David Butler II-USA TODAY Sports
Celtics Prepared to Flip the Script in Miami: 'Should Make for a Better Story'
Teams that take a 2-0 lead in the NBA playoffs have won that series 92.6 percent of the time.
The good news?
Digging out of that hole has become increasingly common. Since 2001, 21 teams have prevailed after losing the first two games, per Land of Basketball.com. Twelve occurred in the last ten years, including the Warriors erasing an 0-2 deficit against the Kings in the first round of this year's playoffs.
"Just got to come out and fight," an optimistic Jaylen Brown expressed after the Celtics dropped Game 2, 111-105. "Play basketball. I think both of these two games, they've been able to come out on top, but who's to say we can't come out on top in the next two games? We've just got to come ready to play basketball, (we) can't lose our confidence, it's the first to four. Should make for a better story."
Fellow All-NBA wing Jayson Tatum voiced, "They came in and won two games. They played well. Give them credit. But we're not dead or anything. I still have the utmost confidence. Everybody has the utmost confidence. And we've got to go out and win Game 3."
The four-time All-Star is excellent when stationed in the middle of a zone defense. Boston could stand to move him off the ball and get him more touches from that spot, especially when Miami goes zone in the fourth quarter.
Tatum's a combined 0/3 with five turnovers in the final frames of Games 1 and 2, and he didn't have a field goal attempt in the last 12 minutes of the series opener -- he did go 6/6 at the free-throw line.
Deploying the two-time All-NBA First Team forward in the middle of the zone and getting him the ball at the pinch post should help. So should more off-ball activity.
With the nearest help defender stunting and swiping at the ball as Tatum and Jaylen Brown drive downhill, poor spacing makes it easier to recover to the closest outlet for the Celtics' stars.
Giving them more opportunities with the near-side corner unoccupied could boost their productivity and enhance their fourth-quarter impact.
And when attacking from up top, sending a teammate from one corner to the other, going from near to far, with the latter previously vacant, and sinking whoever's at the wing on the side Tatum or Brown drives from, which is where the help defender's stunting from, could create an open three for the player relocating from the wing to the corner.
Boston can blend its new wrinkles with its success running high screen-and-roll, provided the latter remains effective against the Heat's zone defense.
And in the play below, with better spacing and Al Horford picking off Caleb Martin, Tatum's able to go one-on-one with Gabe Vincent, building momentum with the space he has coming downhill off the screen, then utilizing an in-and-out dribble to get by the Miami guard. The Celtics' star's getting into the middle of the paint gets Bam Adebayo to engage, leading to a dunk for a cutting Grant Williams.
It's paramount that combating the Heat's zone defense with high screen-and-rolls continues to work. But the adjustments the coaching staff cooks up to aid an offense that generated only 25 points in the final frame of the series opener and 22 in Game 2, with Boston trailing 0-2, the counters need to be successful to avoid a 3-0 hole the defending Eastern Conference champions almost certainly won't dig out of.
As Robert Williams put it, "Time is running out."
Further Reading
Grant Williams Reacts to Heated Altercation with Jimmy Butler
Marcus Smart Defends Joe Mazzulla's Strategy After Game 1 Loss to Miami Heat
Celtics Address 'Letting Go of the Rope' After Game 1 Loss to Heat
Jaylen Brown Discusses Whether Making an All-NBA Team Provides Clarity About His Future
