[Film Room] How the Celtics Stifled the Nets, Delivering Their Best Defensive Performance This Season

Without Marcus Smart and Robert Williams, the Celtics kept Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving in check and limited the Nets to 92 points in Brooklyn's first crack at Boston since getting swept in the playoffs.

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The Celtics delivered their best and most consistent defensive performance this season in Sunday's 103-92 win over the Nets.

Even if one perused the box score without seeing a second of the game, it's evident Kevin Durant had a difficult day at the office. While he registered 31 points, he mostly made his living off well-contested twos, going 1/5 from beyond the arc and committing eight turnovers. Boston generated 16 points off his giveaways.

The Celtics also did an outstanding job walling off Kyrie Irving's drives, limiting his opportunities at the rim. The result was the seven-time All-Star finishing with 18 points on 7/21 shooting, converting on only one of his five threes.

Making the effectiveness with which Boston defended Brooklyn's stars even more impressive is that it did so without defensive anchors Marcus Smart and Robert Williams; granted, the latter's yet to suit up this season.

A common theme throughout the game was Durant targeting Boston's backcourt, seeking out size mismatches to shoot over smaller defenders. 

Malcolm Brogdon's in Durant's air space in the play below, so the former MVP attacks off the dribble. The former stays tight to Durant's shooting arm and has help from Jaylen Brown stunting and Al Horford rotating to the front of the rim. The result is a well-contested floater that draws iron, bounces off the backboard, then ricochets off the cylinder.

Durant drills a jumper from 20 feet in the following clip, but Grant Williams does well, flipping his hips, staying balanced and on the balls of his feet, and walling off Durant's drive. Like most of the four-time scoring champion's shots on Sunday, the Celtics will feel good about how they defended this and live with the result.

Durant was at his worst in the final frame, committing half of his eight turnovers. Those giveaways led to eight points for a Boston offense struggling to stay in rhythm, helping the Celtics close out the win.

The play below also highlights how Boston repeatedly sagged off Royce O'Neale, making sure Durant and Irving saw multiple bodies when they drove. 

As soon as Durant goes into his move, Derrick White comes to double. With Malcolm Brogdon zoning two and O'Neale struggling from beyond the arc, finishing 2/8 on three-point attempts, Durant forces a pass to Irving, but Brogdon easily intercepts the throw.

That turnover came on the heels of Horford positioning himself well to defend a potential Durant drive and contest if he opted for a three. The 12-time All-Star gains separation, hesitating before snapping a between-the-legs crossover, but as he's arriving at the foul line, he has Brown on his right and Horford on his left, plus Jayson Tatum's at the rim.

He's generally inclined to hoist from the mid-range anyway, but when he pulls up, Horford recovers enough to get a hand on the ball as Durant elevates. Brown scoops up the loose change and glides in for a one-handed jam that puts the Celtics ahead by three possessions.

As for how Boston guarded Irving, who did much of his damage in transition, while he missed some clean looks from beyond the arc, the story was how well defenders did staying in front of him on drives, repeatedly resulting in well-contested fadeaways.

In the next play, a staggered screen gets Horford switched onto Irving. The latter generates a clean look from below the elbow, but the shot's location constitutes a win for the defense, who comes away with more than knowing the process was sound as the shot bricks off the rim.

Below, Brogdon stays tight to Irving's front hip, never letting him gain a step. Irving, who's typically so effective at utilizing a slight nudge to create the separation he needs, can't do so here. Brogdon then quickly recovers, challenging a fadeaway that, even if it goes in, one can't ask for more from the defender.

Lastly, the hand off and accompanying screen from Nic Claxton get the ball back to Irving after the inbounds and force Payton Pritchard to switch onto the seven-time All-Star. 

Brown's help plays a significant role in preventing Irving from getting to the cup, but Pritchard maintains contact; keeping his right arm extended makes driving to the rim even less enticing, and Irving settles for a fadeaway over two defenders that airballs.

That stop's a product of sound team-defense but also reflects Pritchard's abilities as an on-ball defender. And with Brogdon and White's 6'10 and 6'7.5 wingspans, respectively, they can bump up to guard small forwards, making deploying all three at the same time a viable option. It's an underutilized combination that could create more minutes for Pritchard and help pace Boston's starters.

Further Reading

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