10 takeaways from the Knicks’ deal with the devil to steal Game 1

#1 – Knicks deal with the devil

In the first half of the game, the Celtics were able to dictate the offense with individual scoring once they got the match-up they wanted. The ball wasn’t moving a lot, but it didn’t matter because the Knicks’ defense was giving the Celtics a lot of space to attack their weakest defender.

But in the second half, the Knicks decided that was enough with the spacing and shrank the floor with their sprawling wings. Because yes, while New York is playing with two defensive liabilities, they also have players who can cover. Mikal Bridges, OG Anunoby, and Josh Hart are covering so much ground that the Knicks were able to collapse space while still letting the Celtics find the mismatches they were looking for.

The Knicks were losing and decided to make a bet with the devil. They couldn’t protect the paint and guard the three-point line at the same time. It just wasn’t working. So, they bet and put their faith in the Celtics missing threes if they decided to protect the rim in priority and close out as hard as possible. And it worked. The Celtics now have the record for the most three-pointers missed in one game. Evil.

Will it work again? I doubt it, but the Celtics need to do a better job at court mapping. If the Knicks are willing to be a step closer to the ball and a step further from their matchup, the court geometry needs to adapt. Some great possessions were played with Jrue Holiday at the dunker spot, for example. Five-out basketball isn’t the only way to go, and the Celtics coaching staff will figure it out.

#2 – 5 points in the last 5 minutes

Jaylen Brown, Jrue Holiday, and Derrick White played the last 17 minutes, Al Horford and Jayson Tatum the last 15, and it showed. The energy was lacking and the execution late in the game wasn’t sharp. Offensively, the plays took too much time to develop and didn’t shake the Knicks’ defense.

And when it was time to run back on defense, the Celtics lacked juice as well. Same goes for the defensive rebound. In the last five minutes—the most important ones—the Celtics didn’t have the vigor to break the Knicks’ defensive shell and protect their own court. With Sam Hauser and Kristaps Porzingis out, the Celtics coaching staff might have to look deeper into the rotation for the next games.

#3 – Jayson Tatum against the switch

There were a lot of doubts regarding what the Knicks would do on pick-and-roll defense. In the regular season, they usually asked Karl-Anthony Towns to drop, and Jayson Tatum’s defender had to go over the screen. The problem was that it created a lot of space for Tatum to pull up from three or enough room to gain speed and drive.

To start the series, the defensive coverage changed. Instead of the drop, the Knicks decided to make their centers switch onto the ball-handler—both with KAT and Mitchell Robinson. The goal of that approach is to force Tatum to play one-on-one situations where he has to create his own space. The problem? He can.

Because of his ability to move well with the ball and shoot from any position, it is very hard for centers to deal with it. The taller their center of gravity is, the harder it gets to stay connected with a player on the move. If you watch closely their feet and hips, they’re often a half-second late—and that’s enough for Tatum to take advantage.

In the first quarter, he scored 13 points and gave the Celtics the offensive juice they needed to start the game. Then once he sat, other players showed up and delivered in the second quarter, starting with Jaylen Brown.

#4 – Jaylen Brown diesel playoffs mode

In France, we call a diesel someone who takes their time to wake up or get going. That is how Jaylen Brown’s playoffs have felt so far. He was usually very aggressive in first quarters this season. However, since his knee injury, the process to get hot seems to have been slower. Now it’s Jayson Tatum who plays all of the first quarter, while Brown gets to explode in the second.

Because the pull-up threes weren’t going down, Brown found another way to score and impact the game closer to the rim. Thanks to Payton Pritchard’s good screening ability and shooting gravity, JB was able to get the mismatch he wanted to attack: Jalen Brunson.

It’s as if Tatum were taking on the bigger seal to exploit their lack of mobility, while Brown is bullying the smallest one with his impressive frame. But as we discussed already, this domination was made harder by the Knicks’ defense in the second half. Brown was able to create some good looks, but the jump shots weren’t going in—at all.

#5 – Payton Pritchard scoring

The Sixth Man of the Year, like Tatum, has done a great job in pick-and-roll situations. The Celtics gave him some offensive load to deal with, and he delivered. His handle might be one of the best in the NBA, and it is very helpful in these different ball-screen scenarios.

On this first bucket, he recognized quickly that the defense wasn’t set, used a Horford screen in transition to get some space from Cam Payne, and knocked it down from downtown.

If the defense baits him to take the three by going under the screen, you can also count on Payton Pritchard to take (and make) the pull-up triple.

But what stood out came later when the Knicks switched on the pick-and-roll against Pritchard. This was a great opportunity for him to drive and get close to the rim with a slower defender against him—which he did. Notice the great timing of the first step and then the deceleration close to the rim to put Mitchell Robinson off balance.

It impacted the game very positively in the first half, but he didn’t get many chances to do the same in the second. Was it because of Jalen Brunson’s hunt for him?

#6 – Jalen Brunson can hunt too

One thing is sure: the Celtics aren’t the only hunters in town this spring. Jalen Brunson, after only three made buckets in the first half, decided to look for possible targets. The first one he found? Payton Pritchard. Despite the Celtics guard’s strong legs and willingness to give everything on defense, Brunson is bigger, taller, and can shoot from everywhere.

Once Joe Mazzulla decided to preserve Pritchard from being hunted, Brunson found a new player to go at: Al Horford. The Celtics veteran remains one of the best in the business at dealing with mismatches and can defend guards, but this Brunson did not care. The Clutch Player of the Year went after him, asked all his teammates to step aside, and brought the Knicks back with pull-ups over Horford.

Yet, Horford did a great job on the last few shot attempts from Brunson and definitely gave the Celtics the opportunity to play the overtime. With Porzingis out and Brunson’s desire to hunt, the Celtics will have to rethink their defensive structure a little.

#7 – Hack-a-Mitch

One thing the Celtics should keep doing is the Hack-a-Mitch. Mitchell Robinson is key for the Knicks’ ability to protect the rim and go after offensive rebounds. He also gave Karl-Anthony Towns a chance to get a breather, especially when he was in foul trouble last night.

The Celtics were able to limit his impact and his minutes by fouling him intentionally. The Knicks center shot only 3-for-10 at the line and was forced to foul intentionally himself to get off the court. Great mind game from the Celtics coaching staff.

#8 – Double drag actions

The Celtics’ drag action worked very well throughout the game, and observers are wondering why they stopped using it later on. The double drag action is a pick-and-roll but with two screens. Because the Celtics wanted to attack two players on the Knicks team, it made sense to use two screens and involve both targets directly.

Joe Mazzulla mentioned in the press conference that there were five to ten possessions where he was 100% satisfied with the process. I think the ones he was happy about were definitely those actions where the Celtics were methodical in their approach and execution.

#9 – Jrue Holiday is looking good

What a great comeback. It’s a shame the Celtics didn’t win because Jrue Holiday would have deserved some love—despite a questionable shot selection in overtime…

Regardless of those last few minutes, Jrue Holiday was a defensive machine against Jalen Brunson. The Knicks guard didn’t see the light when the Celtics number four was on him. And offensively, great passing and connecting as always—like here from the dunker spot for Derrick White’s clutch 3-pointer.

He was also very impressive on the offensive boards, with five rebounds that extended multiple possessions—and the Celtics needed that very much. His hamstring has been doing well, and the Celtics will need him to go over the Knicks.

#10 – What’s up with KP?

So Kristaps Porzingis is sick again. Hopefully, he and Sam Hauser will be back soon because, as we saw, the Celtics need some firepower from beyond the line.