Three Keys To A Boston Celtics Victory In Game 5
By Liam O'Brien
3. Prevent Jimmy Butler from finding offensive mismatches
Far too often in Game 4, we witnessed Thomas being handed the monumental task of hounding Butler one-on-one. Stevens designed this so that when Butler began backing Thomas down in the post, the Celtics could send a double team in his direction. This would allow the Celtic guarding Lopez or Christiano Felicio in the post to slide over and help while still providing time for the Celtics option on the back line of defense to rotate over and block and cutting lanes to the rim.
However, the double consistently came tardy, leaving Thomas on an island with the 6’7″ Butler posting him into oblivion. This paved the way for a pair of easy layups for Butler in the second half (2:25, 3:17 of video below). When Butler was unable to convert from the field, his physicality granting him the chance to get to the foul line. Abusing mismatches such as the 5’9″ Thomas and shooting guard Avery Bradley, who he towers over by five inches and 51 pounds, Butler was able to get to the free throw line for an astounding 23 attempts on the night.
With just over two minutes remaining in the first quarter of Game 4, we see Bradley isolated on Butler above the right block (0:57 of video below). Aware of his obvious leverage, Butler takes two hard dribbles to the middle of the lane, pump fakes to get Bradley in the air, and leans into him slightly to draw the foul call.
Yielding 23 free throw chances to Butler is something that can be easily avoided by the Celtics. Stevens must recognize Butler’s physical advantages over Thomas and Bradley and deposit small forward Jae Crowder, who can match up with Butler size wise, or point guard Marcus Smart, who has the ability to keep bigger opposing players in check.