The Boston Celtics suffered another Game 2 defeat at home against a team that was lethal from three and had a playmaker who could go anywhere.
“It’s the postseason; that is not possible.” Brown remarked, “You have to protect the guy on the other end, regardless of whether you’re missing shots.” “That lets you, as a defence player, miss more shots. However, you cannot let them make shots at the other end while you miss your own. That was not appropriate.
Once more, Donovan Mitchell scorched the Celtics. They had nothing to say this time. With Mitchell proving he could handle anything Boston threw at him, the Cleveland Cavaliers defeated the Boston Celtics 118-94 to bring the series back to Cleveland knotted 1-1.
He made some difficult shots and hard-fought threes tonight. Brown remarked, “You have to be up, but he’s a basketball player.” We’re simply trying to take the challenge tonight, so you need to be a little more aware of him. He overcame us and made some tough baskets that gave him the confidence to go downward. All we have to do is keep things difficult.
The Celtics have never faced a more formidable guard in the postseason than this one.
We attempt to attack the gaps in their defence since they have a lot of really good players. They protected me a little differently tonight than they did earlier, Mitchell remarked. “It helps to hit the three ball, so you have to press up now that they have to respect it in order for you to move.”
Cleveland would position the screen high above the 3-point line while Brown or Jrue Holiday applied pressure to Mitchell. After a clean release over the screen, Evan Mobley’s roll would be a challenge for Al Horford.
Mitchell could easily finish a pull-up three point play if they backed out a little bit. There was no correct response.
They put our pick-and-roll defence to the test. Coach of the Boston Celtics Joe Mazzulla stated, “We have to improve at that.” As I previously mentioned, I believe that a lot of the paint-related incidents resulted from our occasionally bad offensive spacing and rim choices.
According to Mazzulla, Mitchell needed to establish separation before the attack point, much like the Miami Heat did with Tyler Herro during their previous series’ Game 2 victory.
“They are trying to get him off there with off-ball screens, so we just need to play a little more physical off-ball defence,” Mazzulla stated. He obtained a few of those through our exchanges. I believe he made one pick-and-roll basket, and the remaining three were simply our (reads), occasionally stemming from miscommunication or awkward body positioning. We will now need to correct those technical aspects of our individual defence.
When Boston did attempt trapping in the fourth quarter, Mitchell was first forcefully pinned against the sideline by Boston, forcing him.
