Boston Celtics vs Indiana Pacers X's & O's
Breakdown of the offensive & defensive schemes for the Eastern Conference Finals
The Boston Celtics and the Indiana Pacers matchup is very intriguing and I think the Pacers offense can give the Celtics defense some problems. In this breakdown I will try to look at both sides of the ball and take a look at some X’s & O’s and how they will both try to attack each other.
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Celtics Defense
I posted this breakdown of the Celtics gameplan vs the Cavs but it is essentially the same defensive setup they have for most series. The plan is to have Horford on a wing - typically a non shooter - and to have a wing on the other teams big like Mobley on the Cavs. Then any ballscreens that are set are automatically switched and then Horford is always in help defense off the non shooters.
Switching
The Celtics switch alot on defense, but primarily 1-4 around Horford and have Horford be in conventional coverage when defending ballscreens.
One of the areas you will see the Celtics consistently be in drop is in transition where they focus on protecting the paint and rim first - something to note vs the Pacers awesome transition offense.
Switching Horford is an option they use at times to keep the offense guessing and disguise their coverages. While this is not the main option for them, it is an option they will use in special situations like ATOs & dead balls to blow up special plays.
Celtics Offense
5-Out
The Celtics a primarily a 5-Out offense team that will post up their guards and try to create advantages by attacking your weakness. Sure, it can get stagnant but when it’s humming and the Celtics are attacking it can be unstoppable.
GG Hunt Attacks
The primary way of attacking the other teams defense for the Celtics is to go after the weakest guard defender and put them in ballscreen action over and over again. Against the Cavs they put Garland and Mitchell in SO many ballscreens and forced the Cavs to account for the hedging coverage and tried to create easy scoring looks.
Attacking Haliburton
Against the Pacers I anticipate the Celtics attacking Haliburton often, not only to wear on him but make him defend either in switch or hedging. In the regular season they did not consistently attack him but when they did, they found success.
Pacers Defense
Conventional defense is the main takeaway from the Pacers defense this postseason and it makes sense giving their roster construction. The Pacers do not switch alot, electing to keep their matchups in tact and this means that you will see them stay attached on DHOs and screens as well as ballscreens.
In the regular season Turner would be more in drop protecting the rim and sticking more in the lane - even when the Celtics went ultra small with no bigs.
Once the postseason started the Pacers really started to pickup full court and try to not only wear down the opponent but force them to start with the shot clock already down to 14-15 before the other team even can start their offense.
Here is a good clip of the Pacers picking up full court, forcing the Knicks to operate with 13 seconds on the shot clock and then going under and dropping on the Knicks offensive actions.
Hedging Haliburton
In the regular season matchups, the Celtics really didn’t press the Haliburton matchup as much as they will in the playoffs and the Pacers were more willing to switch him onto Tatum in the regular season. The Celtics love to go to this empty action involving their opponents weakest defenders with Tatum setting the ballscreen.
Against the Knicks when Brunson put Haliburton in ballscreen defense the main coverage was to hedge and keep him out of the switch against him.
It will interesting to see the Pacers gameplan when the Celtics inevitably target Haliburton on the defensive end.
Pacers Offense
BREAK
The Pacers offense is FAST, and I mean unbelievably FAST on makes or misses.
If you score and start complaining about a no call or taking your time back on defense, the Pacers are going to score a layup on you 5 seconds later.
If you could pinpoint one weakness in the Celtics defense it would their transition defense in these playoffs. When looking at the numbers on Synergy (shoutout Synergy!) in these playoffs the one area the Celtics have been sub-par is transition defense. Now, these numbers are only from 10 games and with a clear emphasis on transition defense I think the Celtics clean this up as a focus against the Pacers.
Continuous Actions
If you were going to design a defense to counteract the fast paced, side to side continuous movement of the Pacers offense then the length and switching of the Celtics would be perfect. The Pacers present alot of problems by “Chaining Actions” together and always keep the defense off balance by lots of ball movement and player movement.
They are also probably the best team in the NBA at finding an advantage and keeping the advantage.
I hope this shed some light on some of the key things I am looking at for the Celtics vs Pacers. If you enjoyed this breakdown, please consider supporting by becoming a paid subscriber and either way - thank you for supporting!
Coach Pyper
I love this site and your work. While I no longer coach, I still study the game and love the breakdowns. I wish there was a Synergy subscription just for fans/students of the game. Thank you again for the awesome breakdowns.