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2022 Playoffs This is the true power of the Celtics' complete body! Positive benefits from Smart and Horford's return

Positive benefits of returning Smart and Horford

Smart made a quasi-big three with 24 points, 9 rebounds and 12 assists, but more importantly than the book data, he effectively connected the team’s offensive. When his teammates received his pass, Field Goal made 12 of 15 shots. The hit rate is as high as 80%, especially the offensive efficiency of the double gun has also been significantly improved. In this battle, Tatum and Brown scored 51 points, although 2 points less than the previous battle, the hit rate jumped from 44.7% to 56.7%.

Welcoming back the two starters Marcus Smart and Al Horford’s Celtic, saying goodbye to the haze of losing the previous game, the first half of G2 of the series ended, Celtic had scored 70 points, leading the Heat by as much as 25 points , set the record for the most points in the away half-time lead in team history, and finally won the victory without any accident, dressing the series as a 1-1 tie.

Positive benefits from Smart and Horford's return

The three-pointer rains again, the key to the Celtics putting out the Heat

The reason why Celtic widened the lead early is to increase the ratio of outside shots. G1 only made 14 three-pointers in the first half. In the first quarter of this battle alone, he has tried 11 times and hit 9 of them.

In the face of the Heat’s regional zone defense, Celtic’s method of creating a peripheral gap in this battle, in addition to the basic cut pass, also includes the use of pick-and-roll or low-post singles to attract the opponent to double-team, and then quickly conduct the pass to take advantage of the Heat’s team defense. The rotation is not enough, and the shooting opportunity is obtained.  

As in the video below, Jaylen Brown was double-teamed by Jimmy Butler and Dewayne Dedmon after P&R, but he passed the ball immediately, found Smart after another pass, and Victor Oladipo, who came out of the box to cover up, basically Too late, Smart made a three-pointer, even if Oladipo matched up in time, Smart made another extra pass, and Payton Pritchard in the bottom corner also had a completely empty opportunity.

The performance of perimeter shooting may be the key to whether the Celtics can defeat the Heat. Looking back on the three regular season matches between the two sides, Celtic won two of them, and Celtic’s outside shots in those two games were both. More than 40 times, and the hit rate is above 38%. In this battle, Celtic’s outside shots increased from 34 to 40 in G1, and his hit rate also increased from 32.4% to 50.0%, which seems to prove the importance of this indicator.

 

In addition, the return of Smart and Horford has also made the Celtics’ team defense system more complete. Butler is no longer able to enter the penalty area so easily. In G1, he hit 72.7% in the paint area, and only 60% of the game was played. The number of free throw line attempts has been revised down from 18 to 8, showing that the Celtics with Smart and Horford can more effectively limit Butler’s play.

Smart is responsible for organizing the heavy duty to make the two guns more efficient

As for the offense, Smart and Horford also have a positive impact on the team.

Smart made a quasi-big three with 24 points, 9 rebounds and 12 assists, but more importantly than the book data, he effectively connected the team’s offensive. When his teammates received his pass, Field Goal made 12 of 15 shots. The hit rate is as high as 80%, especially the offensive efficiency of the double gun has also been significantly improved. In this battle, Tatum and Brown scored 51 points, although 2 points less than the previous battle, the hit rate jumped from 44.7% to 56.7%.

In addition, the performance of Tatum as the offensive engine in the last game was not ideal. In the face of the Heat’s aggressive defense, the individual made 7 mistakes, but this game was dominated by the rhythm of Smart’s burden, and the team’s offensive organization was more prudent. 9 turnovers, much better than the previous game.

Smart also made 5 three-pointers, which was a pleasant surprise. Although the overall shooting percentage was less than 40%, the team made the most shots in this game with 22. It can be seen that the injury did not detract from his ambition. Although Smart made a lot of shots in matchup situations, the Celtics needed a highly aggressive guard like Smart to be more effective than G1 starter Derrick White who only took four shots. Distract the opponent’s defense.

In addition, Horford made all 3 shots from the mid-range and beyond the three-point arc. In the last game, neither the starter Robert Williams III nor the backup Daniel Theis attempted to make long-range jumpers. Horford’s return to the team will help Increase the attack range.

Butler can’t stand alone. Who should stand up in the Heat?

The Heat who swallowed the defeat, the most outstanding performance was still Butler’s 29 points, but other than him, the team’s shooting percentage was only 32.4%, and the fire support given to him by his teammates was insufficient. From the data point of view, the Heat also seem to have a tendency to rely too much on Butler. His On/Off Court offensive rating is +17.3, which means that when he goes off the court, the Heat team will take 17 points per 100 possessions less. As a control group, The Celtics have no On/Off Court offensive rating above +10.

In this case, the star center Bam Adebayo needs to stand up the most. He only scored 6 points in this battle, and he only made 10 shots in the two Eastern Division Championship games. Compared with his average of 13 shots per game in the regular game, it seems a little bit. passive. The USG% (usage rate) can also be seen. In the regular season, it was 24.8%, ranking third in the team. In the playoffs, it was 17.2%, falling to ninth in the team. This round is only 10.2%. Ranked second to last in the team, obviously his offensive participation is insufficient. No matter his personal mentality or the tactical configuration of the coaching team, there seems to be room for adjustment.

Facing the upcoming G3…

One of the main reasons why the Celtics were able to break into the Eastern Conference Championship was their ability to adapt quickly. The Celtics have only lost their second straight since January, but that was because the team rested four starters at the same time. In this game, as always, after the G1 defeat, they showed a reborn performance and gave the Heat their first home defeat in the playoffs this year.

However, the Heat are also a very good team to adjust, especially to take advantage of the opponent’s laxity and give head-to-head attacks. Before this game, the Heat had only lost three games in the playoffs this year, two of which were immediately followed by a 20-point victory in the next game.

Even though the next game will be back in Boston, the Celtics must remain on high alert, as the Heat will surely try to bounce back after the G2 loss.

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