Boston Celtics vs. Indiana Pacers | Eastern Conference Finals Preview | JJ Redick

Boston Celtics vs. Indiana Pacers | Eastern Conference Finals Preview | JJ Redick

uh let’s move on to Indie Boston just some overall uh thoughts from you on I Boston’s playoffs so far they’ve done their job taking care of business everything they need to do in those series they accomplished and I think you know there’s probably going to be some adversity talk but they did lose game two of each of those series and immediately had to go snatch it back um it’s going to be a different adjustment but Jason Tatum has been able to make plays make reads and drive uh Jaylen Brown has been really really good in this playoffs I I hope people realize the numbers that he’s put up and you mix in Drew holiday and Derek white and their impact on both ends so I just think it’s been a taken care of business run so far this is gonna be a different series for both these teams though uh how show with Indiana I I think with Indiana my mind comes to one Boston has stronger def defensive Personnel to a degree in which we feel or in theory they could feel comfortable with a lot more switching and I think Boston offensively on the other end they can attack Indiana in different ways to where Indiana’s defense not known for it but they’ve been active and as the series is gone on they found different ways to impact things they’ve made adjustments once they key in on things they’ve been pretty good when Boston has the full weight of their lineup we can just kind of toggle different things and your your help points are now okay we’re leaving Derrick White or Rel leaving Drew holiday or it’s Al Horford or Chris dos when he comes back Boston can keep Indiana in rotation and Boston can also kind of mix and match and attack different items if they have that right mindset offensively which is always the question for me with Boston but if you think about okay we don’t want to switch Tyrese halberton onto this matchup that works but that’s Drew holiday potentially short rle that’s Derek white potentially on the short role they can make those plays they kick out look who’s catching the ball that’s where Indiana is now gonna have to sustain defense in a different way um so I I just think in my mind can Indiana find the gaps offensively because they’re going to play they’re Collective uh they play with great Pace but then defensively if Boston does what they need to do are they going to be able to sustain their defense over the course of a series yeah I think I want to talk about indies’s offense versus Boston’s defense but uh I think it’s important to can Indie stop Boston that’s the question mark you go uh sort of even really down the line um with Boston and I I feel like there’s a lot of favorable matchups that they have um and their ability to get teams in rotation and I think specifically about this series uh Missoula and I brought this is why I brought it up earlier with with the the hedges with halberton so whether it is a straight pick and roll whether it is um their sort of V2 horns 2 action where they go to that triangle rip screen slip to get behind um they’re they’re going to get behind the defense like that if if if halberton whether he’s switching or not they manipulate these screening angles so well and you’ve got Al Horford spaced you’ve got Jaylen Brown spaced on the week side whoever Drew holiday so the communication’s got to be excellent how they guarded uh New York in terms of physicality being up to touch uh the off ball defense on Devan chenzo particularly games four through six that stuff is going to be massive but this is a very different team to guard it just is and the the sort of marker for me I I think about what makes these two offenses great for me with with Indie it’s it’s them their ability to spread you out have multiple actions create multiple Closeouts and eventually they’re going to score in the paint number one team in the league in points in the paint and a lot of that is because they are playing so fast even off of makes that it’s hard to set your defense they just flow right into actions using throw aead passes get ahead passes whatever so that’s them with Boston I think the marker for me this series is going to be the rotations and the three-point volume like can Indiana win the math game against Boston that in some ways is is I I think as important as any matchup or what ever any strategic thing it’s like can we limit the three-point shots can we limit the defensive errors that cause a breakdown and into rotation uh so sometimes I think look I think think sometimes when you play Boston you got to be like hey hey we’re kind of willing to live with Jason Tatum Jaylen Brown you know taking ISO tough TW taking being ISO tough step back threes like we you in some ways you have to be willing to live with that against a favorable matchup you know what I mean by that yeah yeah uh otherwise you’re just in rotation they’re gonna they’re just going to rain threes or they’re goingon to score the rim and and I think that’s where it gets interesting how much switching does Indiana want to do what do they want to live with do they employ pressure just to kind of get Boston and start their sets later because in my mind if there’s a concern if you’re Boston which way do you go with the way the the Pacers play do you get trapped into that to a degree where now you’re taking some quicker shots you mentioned the three-point volume which type of Threes you generating are these pull-ups are these quick ones off pick and roll are these the ones where Indiana is in rotation and they’ve had to defend and they’re trying to recover do you slow down too much and now it’s okay we we we feel comfortable with Tatum attacking this matchup or brown attacking this match up they’re 16 on the clock we’ve just started our action they only had to defend one pick and roll and they stayed at home to your point to try and get you to take a tough to and now we miss Indiana zooms the other way is that where the series could get shaky but can Indiana put Boston in that zone over the course of seven games you know yeah I I’m glad you brought up the ball pressure because I was actually was thinking about it this morning and and obviously we’ll we’ll we’ll find out we’ll find out that’s the beautiful thing about sports we can sit here and talk and we’re like oh that’s what they were thinking okay all right you know what I mean but I was thinking about the ball pressure component and there’s two teams that have pressured more in the backourt significantly more than uh everybody else in the playoffs and it’s the Minnesota Timberwolves and the Y Pacers uh there was a ton of possessions in this series against New York where the Pacers had not one not two but three defenders in the back court and if you look across the board in these NBA playoffs in the tracking era I mentioned this in game six on the broadcast there have been more possessions with backourt defensive PR pressure on average across the league than in any other playoffs in the tracking era and it’s not an insignificant margin it’s 36 possessions you know on average this season versus uh I think the second was like 28 so this is a key thing so you bring up the pace how fast does Boston want to play and there are times I [ __ ] they’re an awesome team and they’re great but there are times when they get a little bit slower and a little bit less decisive and can get bogged down that is that’s been the case whether it’s been Brad Stevens em udoka uh Joe Missoula like that that has happened all right so if Indie pressures does that slow them down a little bit does that make them more deliberate um if Indies then try to play in a track meet does Boston then try to play in a track meet um so you know stuff like Jaylen Brown in transition right he’s one of the best players in transition in the NBA like how much can he get loose in transition last piece on this that I I wanted to just talk about is it is remarkable uh in a and it it should be intuitive but we don’t talk about it enough is remarkable in a league where everybody’s always talking it’s a maker Miss League it’s a maker Miss league for sure it is the statistics this postseason on the rebounding battle where the teams that win the rebounding battle have won something like 55 games and they’ve lost 13 or 14 games it’s it’s there’s a massive disparity and Indie in that Nick series they lost every game they lost the rebounding battle but there was a toughness and a pursuit of the basketball that I thought was really important and it’s going to be important again it’s the little stuff that Aaron n Smith keeping a ball alive getting a second possession for Boston it’s pton Pritchard crashing out of the corner like you look at these little swing things and they happen all the time end of quarters start of quarters a star getting arrest all of a sudden TJ McConnell comes in they go up five more points in three minutes right these type of little stretches in games and little plays in games are not insignificant and so I think the rebounding battle will be important in this it’s always is but I think it’ll be really important in this Boston Indie series I agree and you know the data backs it up it’ll be interesting I mean Boston can’t Boston has to find a way to crash to Glass Indiana can’t give those up but for some reason while you were saying that I was trying to think about how Boston defends Indiana and how different of a series that’s going to be for them and can Indiana make those plays where they are able to get rebounds offensively and now they get some of those easier threes like I’m just it’s not it’s not purely a pick and roll series like we know Indiana has pace and Tempo and ball movement player movement Boston’s going to have to sustain sustain their defense and they’re going to have to find a way to continue to make those efforts and make those rotations in a way they haven’t had to in the playoffs so far you know in my mind I was like hey if Miami can find their movement they they couldn’t if Cleveland can find their movement they just didn’t have enough people if Boston is now constantly in rotation and they’re reacting on defense what does this series look like or does Boston find a way to say hey we’re going to switch we’ll bog you down that way we feel comfortable with these people guarding Tyrese we feel comfortable with these people guarding Pascal we’re going to take away Miles Turner uh take him off the table so he can’t hurt us in multiple ways like he’s done during this postseason that is where it gets interesting because if Boston can sustain their defense to and play it at a high level I I think Indiana’s paths to Victory it just the margin slim I’m I’m curious to see how Joe matches up um because he I think he has some options uh in particular the who who guards kakum um does he use Drew as a little bit of a RoR as he’s done at times this season does Drew take the seaka matchup um you know how much is Drew on halberton and I would expect Derek white to start on halberton but how he uses Drew this series defensively is going to be interesting to me it’s one of the one of the fun things all season about Boston is you know you certain games you’re like oh Drew’s got the primary guy and then you’re like oh Drew’s got the fifth guy let’s see what creative stuff Joe does with Drew so fascinating stuff uh I’m so excited for both these series I really am

In ‘Old Man and the Three Things’ JJ Redick and Steve Jones break down the matchups in the Eastern Conference Finals between the Boston Celtics and Indiana Pacers including who guards Tyrese Haliburton, Jayson Tatum, and Jaylen Brown, plus the important keys for each team to find advantages.

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