In Game 1, the Boston Celtics made the strategic decision to intentionally foul Mitchell Robinson.
In the debut of the “hack-a-Robinson” tactic, the logic was sound and multifaceted. First, when the defense broke down, they would foul Robinson off the ball, sending him to the free-throw line. With Robinson shooting just over 50% from the charity stripe for his career, the Celtics preferred to send him to the line rather than allow an easy Knicks bucket. Here’s a perfect example:
Alternatively, the strategy could force Robinson off the floor. As a threatening paint presence who could muck up the Celtics’ offense, turning him into an offensive liability gave Boston the upper hand. Ultimately, it pressured Tom Thibodeau to sub the big man out. Boston forced that issue just one possession after their first intentional foul — and it worked.
That was the end of the “hack-a-Robinson” tactic for Game 1. It was efficient, intentional, and calculated. Beyond its advantages for mismatches and court geometry, it was also a classic Mazzulla gimmick aimed at getting in New York’s head.
That all fell apart in Game 2.
Let me set the scene. With 2:43 left in the game, the Celtics led 86–82. Mitchell Robinson was on the court. The Celtics were three fouls away from entering the bonus. Then, they intentionally fouled Robinson twice in a row:
The logic behind intentionally fouling Robinson clearly disappeared from Mazzulla’s brain in that moment. First, consider the context. Boston was three fouls away from the bonus, meaning those two fouls on Robinson would not result in free throws. More importantly, it meant that their next foul would — and there were still two and a half minutes of basketball left.
Thus, the Celtics backed themselves into a corner, needing to play perfect basketball for the rest of the game, unable to commit even a single foul without facing serious consequences. This set off a domino effect that culminated in Jalen Brunson shooting game-clinching free throws after a reaching foul by Jrue Holiday in the final seconds.
To make matters worse, the logic of getting Robinson off the floor in this situation was also inherently flawed. Subbing out Mitchell meant OG Anunoby would return — by the way, he’s one of the best wing defenders in the NBA. While Robinson creates problems for the Celtics, Anunoby creates nightmares. In effect, Mazzulla gave Thibodeau a free opportunity to sub in his Tatum-stopper.
The Boston Globe’s Adam Himmelsbach reported that Joe Mazzulla has brought chess prodigy Joshua Waitzkin into the franchise as a performance consultant. I don’t want to point fingers, but we might want to double-check that Waitzkin isn’t actually a checkers prodigy — because Boston’s game planning against Mitchell Robinson has been nothing short of elementary.
