How Can Celtics Stop Robin Lopez?

Bulls center Robin Lopez has destroyed the Celtics offensively as well as on the glass over the first two games of the Eastern Conference Quarterfinals. How can Boston contain the pesky seven-footer?

Heading into their Eastern Conference Quarterfinal series with the Chicago Bulls, it was evident that the Boston Celtics‘ defensive mindset was contingent on containing the likes of Jimmy Butler and Dwyane Wade, especially in pick-and-roll situations.

Head coach Brad Stevens seemingly entered the first two games of the week expecting to put the onus on the Bulls role players to contribute. If they score and hurt the Celtics, then so be it.

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This plan has certainly backfired, as the likes of Robin Lopez and Paul Zipser have relegated the Boston defense to a helpless collection of bodies, pitting the first-seeded Celtics into a 2-0 hole as the series shifts to the Windy City for Friday night’s Game 3.

Lopez may have posted just over 10 points per game throughout the regular season, but the playoffs have unleashed a new animal within him. After collecting 14 points on an efficient 6-of-9 shooting in Game 1, the Stanford product unloaded on the TD Garden in Game 2, hitting 8 of his 12 field goal attempts for 18 points. Lopez’ midrange game was reminiscent of Tim Duncan’s in the triumph, as he converted every single time Boston gave him an inch of breathing room.

In order for the Celtics to slow down the avalanche that Lopez has symbolized, they will need to dedicate at least some attention to preventing the seven-footer from receiving these wide open looks. The majority of Lopez’ shots came out of the pick-and-roll, and the Celtics’ defensive game plan dictated that they would focus solely on preventing the ball-handler from having a direct path to the rim by placing both defenders within his path to the basket.

We witnessed this from the outset of the contest. With just over three minutes remaining in the first quarter, Lopez sets a screen for point guard Rajon Rondo on the right wing (skip to 0:10 on the video below). Isaiah Thomas gets caught out of position and ends up trailing the driving Rondo, forcing Lopez’ defender, Al Horford, to impeded Rondo’s lane to the hoop. Once Thomas recovers, Horford lingers in no man’s land between Thomas and the basket, allowing Lopez to knock down an elbow jumper with five feet of space.

This illustrates the fact that the Celtics did not consider Lopez to be a midrange shooting threat entering the series. The decision to allow Lopez to garner these openings represents a significant lapse on the part of Stevens, as Lopez converted 45.9 percent of his looks from 10-16 feet and 44.9 percent of his shot attempts from over 16 feet on the regular season.

We see this trend continue at the beginning of the second half. With just under 11 minutes to go in the third quarter, Lopez sets a high screen for Wade at the top of the key (1:02). As defender Avery Bradley goes around the screen, center Tyler Zeller stays below the three-point arc, waiting in help in the case of a Wade drive. This leaves Lopez wide open for the high-elbow two-pointer, which he proceeded to knock down with ease as Zeller was tardy in his closing out.

Lopez’ ability to hit this jumper will force Stevens to alter his defensive scheme heading into Game 3. The likes of Horford, Zeller, and Kelly Olynyk will need to hedge on ball screens before recovering immediately on to Lopez in order to prevent him from getting an open shot. The same goes for Bulls power forward Nikola Mirotic, who splashed a trio of three-pointers in Game 2 en route to 13 points.

Lopez has also harmed the Celtics significantly on the offensive glass, yielding five offensive rebounds in Game 2 after corralling a stunning seven in Game 1. In order to contain Lopez’ body on the boards, Boston must fix their fundamentals. With just over two minutes remaining in the first quarter (0:25), Mirotic fires up a wing three-point attempt after a pass from Butler. The shot glances off of the front rim and backboard, but Lopez’ right arm extends over both Amir Johnson and Marcus Smart for the tip-in.

The path to Lopez’ rebound begins immediately after he sets the high ball screen for Butler. Johnson fades back into a helping position, overly concerned with the possibility of a Butler drive. This allows Lopez to skate into the paint as he realizes Mirotic’s intentions to let a three-pointer fly. By the time Johnson recognizes that Lopez is crashing, he is already a step away from the restricted area underneath the basket. Johnson then attempts to grab Lopez’ arm rather than putting his backside on him and pushing him out of the paint. This decision fails miserable as Lopez is able to knock the ball in despite having his left arm held by Johnson.

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The Celtics must keep a body on Lopez at all times when a shot goes up, as their priority on the defensive boards should be to restrict Lopez from even sniffing the chance at a rebound and a putback if they wish to recover in the series.