Jim Rassol-USA TODAY Sports
[Film Room] How the Celtics Got Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown Going in the Second Half of Game 5's Win
In the first half of the Celtics' 93-80 win over the Heat in Game 5, Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown combined for ten points on 3/16 shooting and committed six turnovers. In the final two frames, they took over the game offensively.
The pairing produced 37 points, five assists, and only three giveaways. When both teams emptied their benches with 1:32 left in the game, Tatum and Brown had outscored Miami 37-34 in the second half.
Not to take away from the Heat's zone defense standing in the way of the Celtics finding their rhythm in the first two quarters, but for Tatum, there were a lot of good looks he didn't capitalize on while working through the lingering effects of the stinger he suffered in his right shoulder in Game 3.
When asked about it after Wednesday's win, Tatum replied: "It was bothering me. But I got Nick, my trainer, taking care of me, and we just figure it out."
Going from scoring four points and shooting 1/9 in the first half, not registering his first field goal until the 8:07 mark in the second quarter, to generating 18 and knocking down 6/11 attempts after halftime certainly meets the criteria for figuring it out.
It started by attacking off the catch. In the following play, Jimmy Butler ends up flat footed with his right leg bent inward as Tatum rips the ball through and goes by him. When he gets to the edge of the paint, he slams on the breaks and elevates, fading away from Butler for a pull-up jump shot that swishes through the net.
And with Boston's defense wearing out the Heat and the Celtics going from having ten turnovers in the first half to five in the second, they forced Miami to play almost exclusively against a set defense. As the NBA's top-ranked unit strung together stops, it created opportunities for Tatum and Brown to attack in transition.
The bucket below from Tatum early in the fourth quarter exemplifies a trait he's capitalized on more this season than in previous years. Guarding the newly minted All-NBA First Team member is Max Strus, one of Tatum's favorite targets to hunt on the Heat. Caleb Martin is at the nail to help against middle penetration, but he starts shading towards Derrick White as Tatum comes downhill.
As the play unfolds, it looks like Tatum can get to the rim or launch a floater from inside the paint. Instead, he picks up his dribble and kicks the ball to Al Horford. When that happens, Horford attacks middle, Tatum relocates to the left corner, Horford sends it back to him, and he buries a three.
Those shots after relocating will usually be clean, in-rhythm, high-percentage looks.
On Boston's following possession, Tatum again has Strus on him. He takes him into the mid-post, where he taps into his height advantage, turning and leaping right, creating a clean look he scores on ten feet from the basket.
As for Brown, he entered halftime with six points and four turnovers. After a giveaway late in the first frame, Ime Udoka pulled him and told Brown: "Be strong with the ball. It's five games in now. We can't keep having these turnovers."
Udoka also conveyed to him: "The crowd is there. You're acting like you're surprised that they're reaching and taking it from behind."
In the second half, Brown had no turnovers. He stopped forcing the issue, and he was quicker to shoot rather than dribbling into the swiping arms of a help defender.
The clip below highlights that, as he gets the ball from Derrick White and instead of driving into Bam Adebayo, he throttles down, pulling back with a between-the-legs dribble to create separation from Gabe Vincent. Then, he elevates for a clean look at a jump shot he swishes from the right elbow.
As the third quarter winds down, he sticks to that approach. Brown dribbles between his legs rather than crossing over and putting the ball in front of Vincent. Then, he uses his off-arm to shield off Vincent as he reaches in. Now, he can capitalize on his size and strength advantages, spinning into a foul-line jumper as Vincent, trying to recover, plays the drive, turning him into a spectator as Brown buries the shot.
Brown then delivered a pair of exclamation marks to cap the Celtics' victory, seizing control of the Eastern Conference Finals.
First, knowing the Heat will double team Tatum, White slips the screen, heading to the foul line, which draws Butler towards him, thinking he might get a steal. Instead, Tatum passes over P.J. Tucker, skipping the ball to Brown on the opposite wing, and with the shot clock ticking down, he drills his third-straight three. This one from 29 feet.
A few minutes later, after Miami cut its deficit to 16, Brown builds momentum as he gets downhill, comes off a screen from Horford that Duncan Robinson misplays. Robinson tries coming from inside to get to Brown, but the latter blows by him, and Robinson gets in Butler's path, taking him out of the equation. As Brown explodes to the rim, Adebayo gets out of the way, and he delivers a thunderous one-handed jam.
Brown being stronger with the ball and smarter about his approach translated to him scoring 19 of his game-high 25 points in the second half, shooting 8/12 from the field and 3/5 from beyond the arc.
If the Celtics take care of the ball in Game 6, limiting the Heat's opportunities to produce points in transition, they'll put themselves in a prime position to end the series Friday and advance to the NBA Finals.
Further Reading
Jayson Tatum Points to Winning, Growth as a Playmaker for All-NBA First Team Selection
What Stood Out from Game 4 of the Eastern Conference Finals: In a Must-Win Game, Celtics Deliver
