Boston Celtics head coach Brad Stevens is okay with not having called a timeout in the final play of Saturday night’s loss to the Houston Rockets.
After a miracle 3-pointer by shooting guard Jaylen Brown immediately after a perfectly-executed fake free throw by All-Star forward Jayson Tatum sent the game to overtime, the team looked poised to wrest the game back from the Rockets after going cold in the final frame of regulation.
But Boston would find themselves trailing by one on the extra period’s final possession, and Brown’s progress impeded by small-ball center Robert Covington as he tried to advance the ball.
“We felt like calling an action we were comfortable with and looking at multiple options, which they blew up a couple of the options with their defense,” said Stevens (via MassLive’s John Karalis).
Tatum: “We were running 1 of our set plays where I throw it to Gordon, I was supposed to come off a flare and you can either do a dribble handoff w/the guy in the corner JB, or come off a ball screen that Theis sets. JB got a good shot. Something he can hit. It just didn’t go in” pic.twitter.com/Wm0lWwdfdB
— John Karalis 🇬🇷 (@RedsArmy_John) March 1, 2020
Houston did an outstanding job of forcing the Celtics out of their preferred methods of attack, instead seeing Boston try to adapt on the fly in ways which bent the game towards the Rockets’ strengths, and this sequence was no exception.
“Jaylen going to his right hand for a pull-up jump shot, it’s hard to get a good look in those moments,” explained the Celtics coach.
“And he got a clean look at the rim and we believe in him and trust him,” he added.
““It felt good,” noted Brown. “That’s a shot I’ve been shooting all season, I’ve been working on, it just didn’t fall.”
Had it done so, this would have been the game of the season for how Boston handled the adversity thrown at them by one of the best coaches and two of the best players in the league.
It didn’t, but it shouldn’t diminish the growth we are seeing from Brown and Tatum in particular, but also the team’s ability to dig deep even in the absence of All-Star point guard Kemba Walker, whose usual steadying presence might have been the difference in such a close game.
For their part, the Rockets look the part of a legitimate contender as they concretize their new style of ultra-small play.
They also seem to respect Boston’s young core very much — through their playoff-like play as much as the exchanges which took place after the game.
Jayson Tatum got a signed jersey from Ben McLemore, a fellow St. Louis native.
— Chris Grenham (@chrisgrenham) March 1, 2020
Jayson Tatum shared a hug with Houston’s PJ Tucker immediately afterward, and was gifted a signed Ben McLemore jersey as well from his fellow St. Louis native, and both James Harden and Russell Westbrook spoke with respect for the opponent they just squeaked by in overtime.
Given the core of Boston’s engine is just getting started with Brown a mere 23-years-old and Tatum 21, that’s probably not the worst strategy — this team is just getting started in terms of their best years.
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