Before Wednesday night, Game 5s had been a house of horrors at TD Garden in recent years for the Celtics. The team dropped two of their three contests last postseason on the Garden parquet and went 0-2 at home in Game 5s during their NBA Finals run. The shorthanded Heat came into the Garden in Game 5 facing a 3-1 hole as heavy underdogs but recent letdowns still cast a shadow over this group. Would they be able to take care of business promptly to get some extra rest for the long playoff grind?
With Kristaps Porzingis out of the lineup with a calf strain, tweaks were inevitable for Joe Mazzulla’s rotation. Luke Kornet entered the fold at center with Al Horford’s promotion to the starting five. Yet, Mazzulla and the coaching staff did more to ensure there would be no repeat of recent Game 5 letdowns.
A 41-point scoring eruption in the first quarter could be traced back to a couple of subtle moves that went a long way for Boston to quickly turn an elimination game for Miami into a rout.
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TAKING AWAY MIAMI’S RIM PROTECTION WITH JAYSON TATUM
The Heat made the decision after Game 1 to have Bam Adebayo spend a lot more time defending Jayson Tatum. That trend continued out of the gate in Game 5 where Adebayo was the All-Star primary defender.
The move makes sense in some ways for Miami. With Adebayo on Tatum, there’s less of a need for double teams on the superstar and that helps Miami survive if they can hold up in their other individual matchups.
Mazzulla saw this tactic and made a point of emphasis to use it against the Heat particularly well in Game 5. Miami has no meaningful rim protection and plenty of subpar defenders when Adebayo is otherwise occupied out of the paint. So Boston made a point to keep Tatum far away from offensive actions in the early part of the first quarter.
With Tatum on the other side of the floor or outside the arc, Adebayo’s ability to be a help defender was thwarted constantly. It’s hard to get across the floor as is and leaving Tatum open is not really an option. Mazzulla and to his credit, Tatum, were happy to take Adebayo out of the equation and let Boston’s supporting cast feast against what was left of Miami’s defense.
The impact was evident throughout the 41-point first quarter. Jaylen Brown’s first post up on Tyler Herro of the game? Easy move as Tatum watched from the opposite corner. Brown and Derrick White took turns attacking the rim, setting up easy baskets for themselves and their teammates as Tatum watched from a distance (with Adebayo nearby).
Boston had 10 consecutive makes at one point with Tatum not even attempting a field goal until 1:41 remaining in the first quarter. The Heat elected to play small (Delon Wright started for Jamie Jaquez) and the Celtics were happy to make them pay with their unique tactic.
Ultimately, Tatum elected to get involved directly in the offense when there was an easy mismatch for him to attack (Kevin Love). A couple of pick-and-rolls involving Love in the action led to three straight open 3s for Tatum and Sam Hauser, opening the floodgates for Boston’s offense on their way to 41 points in the first quarter on 66.7 percent shooting.
A CHANGE IN SUB PATTERN
Another vital change by Mazzulla with Tatum came with his rotation shifts. All series long, Tatum had come out of the game after six minutes for a quick early rest. This time around, Mazzulla opted to step on Miami’s throat early, keeping Tatum in the game for 20 straight minutes to start. He ultimately played 23 of 24 minutes in the first half as Boston built a 23-point lead.
The subtle move went a long way as the Celtics’ aggressiveness with minutes paid off. Tatum and company built up a 30-point lead by the end of the third quarter giving all of Boston’s regulars ample rest in the final frame as Erik Spoelstra pulled his own starters early.
Mazzulla has rarely shifted from his rotation patterns all year long but he saw a clear opportunity here to push his chips in now in order to get more rest for this group later. Those tactics could end up going a long way with at least three days of rest coming up for this group as they await their second-round opponent.
FINAL THOUGHTS
Mazzulla and the Celtics coaching staff had a tough night in Game 2 but they bounced back quite well over the remainder of the series. A massive defensive bounce back in Game 3 put Boston in control of the series and a savvy tweak in Game 5 helped the team land a knockout punch. Talentwise, this series shouldn’t have gone longer than five games but that hasn’t stopped this group from making life harder than it needed to in the past. Mazzulla did his part to make sure history didn’t repeat itself this time around.
