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LeBron James threw Celtics fans into a spin cycle over the course of two games of methodical picks, forcing him primary defender off the ball and forcing 6’2” Terry Rozier to defend him. The repeated carnage resulted in 4-for-4 shooting and nine points for James in a series-tying game four win by the Cavaliers.
Al Horford said Boston trusts Rozier in those scenarios, and that they’d be there help side to assist him. That worked sometimes, especially when the Celtics could switch again to get a big man onto James before he made his move. That succeeded more in Boston, but James had his way with the Celtics’ defense at home.
Where do the Celtics go from here as they continue to “autoswitch” to death? Jared Weiss wrote about the mismatch and the Celts’ defensive scheme this week for The Athletic and returned to the CelticsBlog Pod to break it down and how Brad Stevens can counteract it in tonight’s pivotal game four.
Meanwhile, I’m seeing 2-3 zones where there are none thanks to Syracuse, we weigh the chances of Boston pulling out into the NBA Finals after squandering a 2-0 lead and preview a lineup that showed hope consisting of Marcus Smart, Terry Rozier, Al Horford and Aron Baynes with Jaylen Brown and Jayson Tatum working in interchangeably. It posted a +10 advantage in game four.
Thank you for listening to 40 episodes of The Banners Broadcast. As always, advice, suggestions and subscriptions are welcome.