Ime Udoka propels Celtics fourth quarter Game 1 rally with unique tactics against Warriors

https://www.masslive.com/celtics/2022/06/ime-udoka-propels-celtics-fourth-quarter-game-1-rally-with-unique-tactics-against-warriors-brian-robb.html



Ime Udoka propels Celtics fourth quarter Game 1 rally with unique tactics against Warriors



Updated: Jun. 03, 2022, 8:34 a.m. | Published: Jun. 03, 2022, 6:51 a.m.




Boston Celtics guard Jaylen Brown (7) talks with head coach Ime Udoka during the first half of Game 1 of basketball's NBA Finals against the Golden State Warriors in San Francisco, Thursday, June 2, 2022. (AP Photo/Jed Jacobsohn)AP


By Brian Robb | brobb@masslive.com



The Celtics closed out Game 1 against the Warriors with 12 minutes of basketball that could become the signature moment of the team’s season.

Facing a 12-point deficit at the start of the frame, the visitors jumped all over Golden State with a 40-16 period, quickly turning a double-digit deficit into a runaway win by the time Steve Kerr pulled his starters in the final minute.

Boston’s win snapped the Warriors’ franchise-high nine-game home postseason winning streak and their streak of 13 straight Game 1s won at home, dating back to last decade.


It was the worst quarter all postseason long on both ends of the floor for the Warriors with their most points allowed (40) and fewest scored (16) against a Boston squad that won their only Game 1 since the first round of the postseason. At the center of it all was rookie head coach Ime Udoka.

The 44-year-old has put together quite the resume for himself this postseason, helping the Celtics survive challenging matchups against the Bucks and Heat. However, his chess moves in the fourth quarter of Game 1 opened the door for a historically dominant quarter that changes the outlook of this series for both sides.


Abandoning the double big lineup: The Warriors had their way offensively against the Celtics in the third quarter, piling up 38 points with their 3-point shooting and second chance opportunities (23 second-chance points in the first three quarters, including 11 in the third quarter alone).

Boston’s been a top-ranked defense in large part because of their size in the frontcourt all year long, with Udoka opting to keep two of Al Horford, Rob Williams and Grant Williams on the floor for most of the game until crunch time.

However, with the Warriors getting easy looks against Boston bigs in drop coverage or coming off screens and handoffs, Udoka elected to take away an easy target for the Golden State offense in the final frame. He played with just one big on the floor for the entire fourth quarter, cutting Grant Williams out of the rotation entirely.

The move paid off greatly on both ends as the Warriors offense (16 points on 41 percent shooting) began to stall without a mismatch to target with their smaller lineups for easy looks. Boston locked in on playing 1-on-1 defense in even matchups and simply won those battles with this smaller look that let them match up better against a smaller Warriors lineup. The Celtics tightened up on the glass by going small as well (only one offensive rebound allowed in fourth quarter) and made worthy defensive sacrifices for offensive upside that paid dividends in the team’s rally.


Leaning into max shooting volume lineup: The Celtics were failing to keep pace with Golden State’s firepower for much of the first three quarters and that led Udoka to unveil a rarely used lineup at the beginning of the fourth quarter, featuring plenty of high volume 3-point shooters (Payton Pritchard, Derrick White, Brown, Tatum) around a rim rolling big in Rob Williams. It was a grouping that hadn’t been used all postseason long and just twice in the regular season (for five total minutes) yet Udoka went to it, opting for a smaller defensive look with more offensive firepower with the game on the line.


The unit trimmed a Warriors’ 12-point lead down to four before Udoka decided to go all-in with his shooting look, bringing back a perimeter threat in Al Horford for Williams.

Quite simply, this left no one for the Warriors defense to hide off of defensively if they wanted to give Jayson Tatum or Jaylen Brown extra attention. All five Boston shooters on the floor were high volume and elite from 3-point range in their career historically except for White, who was red-hot on the this night in particular.

Golden State still made the decision to gamble repeatedly against Boston’s shooting by throwing extra help towards Tatum and Brown. The Celtics responded by getting red hot from 3-point range, 9-of-12 overall in the frame, punishing the Warriors for conceding the open looks. While the players deserve credit for making the shots, Udoka’s lineup decision unlocked the team’s best floor spacing. The Pritchard/White/Tatum/Brown/Horford had played two minutes together all postseason before Game 1. Their 12-2 run together midway through Game 1 gave the Celtics the lead for good and changed the game.


Sticking with Pritchard over Smart for longer than expected: This was the perfect example of Udoka’s gut feel shining through in a positive light. Marcus Smart was not playing poorly in Game 1 before the fourth quarter and on paper, this was a matchup the team needed him more than ever defensively against the Warriors’ sharpshooting guards.

However, Udoka saw something in how Boston’s offense looked with Pritchard on the floor from early in the fourth quarter. His production wasn’t anything that stood out (five points) but his decision making was on point and his reliable 3-point shooting made him a valuable threat with the way the Warriors were playing defense. Amazingly, Pritchard’s nose for rebounding (team-high four rebounds in fourth quarter) helped Boston keep Golden State off the offensive glass as well when both teams downsized in the final frame.


Udoka ended up rolling with Pritchard for eight minutes of the fourth quarter, despite the fact Smart was rested and ready to go well before then. The reserve guard was a plus-18 in the frame, rewarding Udoka for his faith in him before an energized Smart took the baton and made a pair of wide open clutch 3s to help Boston finish off the comeback win. A lot of coaches would have gone back to Smart earlier based on reputation but Udoka was not that guy in this instance. The Celtics were better off for it.


FINAL THOUGHTS

When all was said and done, the Celtics played nearly a perfect quarter of basketball and a lot of the credit for that should go to the players. Jaylen Brown set the tone early on, Jayson Tatum was a willing passer, Al Horford shot the lights out and everything clicked as the team made the right play and pass over and over again.


Udoka made plenty of unorthodox choices that fueled this dominant frame though. Those decisions combined with his relentless implementation of a drive-and-kick offense where extra passes are prioritized (12 fourth quarter assists), produced a comeback that will go down in Finals history. The Celtics are putting together a special season right now and Udoka’s chess moves continue to be a big reason why.


Bob


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Udoka has already told us that the Celtics have tremendous flexibility in their lineups. So why should it be some epiphany that he used his small ball option to get into them defensively and spread them out offensively?

I did notice two late 4th QTR timeouts from Ime unlike in the Heat series.  He is also still learning as a coach.  He left nothing to chance.  It was like he took the car out for a quick spin around the block and then took it back to the garage to tinker with it, took it back out and then brought it back in for one final fine-tuning.

Great coaching!

Excellent point of view. I did notice Marcus was on the bench quite a while in the 4th.

db

Excellent coaching and execution on the floor.

Excellent point of view. I did notice Marcus was on the bench quite a while in the 4th.

db

The one big defender puts our 4 best perimeter defenders on the floor, which makes sense to what GS’s strength is. Love that Pritch was given a shot and the way the little guy competes both ends, he is sound fundamentally and has a knack for finding open looks. He knows how to hit shots and spread the floor, if he gets hot, look out….

cowens/oldschool wrote:The one big defender puts our 4 best perimeter defenders on the floor, which makes sense to what GS’s strength is. Love that Pritch was given a shot and the way the little guy competes both ends, he is sound fundamentally and has a knack for finding open looks. He knows how to hit shots and spread the floor, if he gets hot, look out….

His size hurts when guys shoot over him but his on the ball defense is excellent as he does a great job staying in front of his man. Very solid lateral quickness.

dboss wrote:

cowens/oldschool wrote:The one big defender puts our 4 best perimeter defenders on the floor, which makes sense to what GS’s strength is. Love that Pritch was given a shot and the way the little guy competes both ends, he is sound fundamentally and has a knack for finding open looks. He knows how to hit shots and spread the floor, if he gets hot, look out….

His size hurts when guys shoot over him but his on the ball defense is excellent as he does a great job staying in front of his man.  Very solid lateral quickness.

Surprisingly good rebounder too, can mix it up, classic Celtic role player, imperfect and fearless.

Yes, Cow. Payton had six rebounds. 4 offensive I believe.