Celtics Film Room: How Jayson Tatum and Payton Pritchard Broke the Sixers

The Boston Celtics and Philadelphia 76ers were tied twice, at 76 and at 79, last night before the Celtics went on a huge, decisive run to turn a tight game into a blowout. The Celtics hit 11 three-pointers over the final 16 minutes of the game, four by Payton Pritchard and three by Paul George.

But before George caught fire himself, the Celtics put together a masterful end-of-third-quarter run that broke this game open. Here's how it happened.

Payton Pritchard, 3:43 3rd Quarter, 79-76 Boston

This is the first of two very similar but still different plays by the Celtics to exploit Philadelphia's defense. Here, Pritchard is going to run off two screens, one by Jayson Tatum and one by Mitchell Robinson. The Sixers are in drop coverage, which means the goal is to force Pritchard into the mid-range. The problem is that Philadelphia, specifically Joel Embiid, doesn't seem to process that two screens are coming.

Dean Wade drops, giving Pritchard a ton of space, but then Joel Embiid drops as well, even though Wade has Robinson covered. With both defenders going with Robinson, Pritchard gets a wide-open look.

Honestly, how many times are you going to see Pritchard stepping into a three-pointer with a defender turning and looking in the opposite direction? That's a layup.

Payton Pritchard, 3:02 3rd Quarter, 82-79 Boston

This play looks similar, but it's now a pick followed by a dribble handoff. Instead of running a pick-and-roll with Tatum, Pritchard tosses it to Robinson first and gets a screen from Tatum, which the Sixers switch. Then that flows into a dribble handoff with Robinson.

Embiid is still dropping, so Robinson's roll keeps him occupied. And with shooters in each corner, it's up to Embiid to control the lane. Tatum's screen knocks Maxey way off his path and gets Pritchard wide open.

Two notes here: Tatum's screening has been pivotal to both of these threes, and keep an eye on the spacing, because Tatum is going to get rewarded for it.

Sam Hauser, 2:24 3rd Quarter, 85-79 Boston

This one is all about good recognition and star gravity. This is also one for the "Celtics only chuck threes" crowd, because Tatum starts out trying to attack the basket. He has good spacing and only Embiid to beat.

Good job by Embiid cutting Tatum off and redirecting him into the corner. At that point, Hauser understands that he has to go balance the floor, so he goes to the spot Tatum just vacated.

Tatum then tries to post Wade up, but his gravity in the paint draws two defenders, leaving Hauser wide open. And because VJ Edgecombe jumps to try to get to the pass, letting his momentum take him out of the play, Kentavious Caldwell-Pope is left in no-man's land. You can even see a smidge of hesitation to commit to Hauser because Pritchard is also wide open, and he just buried two shots.

That's gravity and undisciplined defense, all created by Tatum attacking the paint and then trying to post up, which is a different way of getting into the lane.

Jayson Tatum, 1:31 3rd Quarter, 88-79 Boston

Now we'll revisit the second Pritchard three when Mitchell Robinson was on the roll and drew a bunch of attention. The ball wasn't delivered to him on that play. This is what happens when it is.

First things first: Look at where Tatum sets the initial pick. It's up at the logo. I don't care how often it happens; watching a team set a pick-and-roll at the logo and force the defense to guard it out there is always going to blow my mind. This is an elite shooter getting a pick from a superstar, two elite corner shooters spacing the floor, and a great roll man going down the middle. Impossible to defend.

Neemias Queta smartly slips what was supposed to be a pick-and-roll because Wade is sticking with Tatum. So Pritchard gets him the ball, which draws the defense in. Queta then makes a great play to swing it out to Hauser, which draws all five Sixers defenders below the free-throw line, all while JAYSON FREAKIN' TATUM is standing all alone at the top of the key.

Great execution, attacking the rim again, great ball movement, great finish.

Baylor Scheierman, :58 3rd Quarter, 91-82 Boston

Another paint touch, another wide-open three. This one is very simple. Pritchard and Queta run a pick-and-roll and actually mess it up. They're not supposed to be next to each other like that, but the Sixers overreact anyway with four of them getting at least one foot in the paint.

Overreactions beget overreactions, so Maxey flies out at Scheierman completely out of control. That's not a closeout; that's desperation from a guy who is watching his team lose control of this game. Scheierman does a great job faking, setting himself, and burying the shot.

Every one of these plays involves some sort of pressure on the paint. Even if the ball didn't get there, the pressure of a rolling big pulled defenders out of position. This entire run happened because the Celtics created that pressure and exploited the Sixers' overreactions to it.

I can't end this without noting their defensive effort as well. They did a great job limiting the Sixers to one shot and putting additional pressure on them because of cross-matches that caused some confusion. The Sixers missed some good looks, but the Celtics defense didn't allow the same kind of pressure their offense was creating on the other end. That's a big reason why they were able to get hot from three.

But make no mistake, this was an elite offensive exhibition that went well beyond just getting hot. The Celtics created these opportunities, and the basketball gods smiled upon them for doing so.

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