After a stellar performance in Game 7, Kelly Olynyk would be a good option to start in the eastern conference finals.
The Celtics ended the Washington Wizards’ season on Monday with a 115-105 win in Game 7 of the eastern conference semifinals. Stakes were high, the Wizards were throwing their punches, but Kelly Olynyk delivered the knock out blow.
Olynyk finished with 26 points, and was on fire down the stretch of the game. For some reason, Scott Brooks thought it would be a good idea to put Ian Mahinmi on Olynyk in the early parts of the game. Mahinmi is not a mobile big man, and guarding Olynyk was a mismatch in Boston’s advantage from the start. This allowed Olynyk to gain confidence early, which most likely sprung his late explosion.
It was a perfect way for the Wizards to go out. Kelly Oubre overreacted in Game 3 and shoved Olynyk to the ground after a hard screen. As Oubre watched from the bench in a game that he saw no action, Olynyk justly ended his team’s season with a barrage of threes and layups.
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The Celtics don’t have much time to celebrate, as they have a very tough match up against the defending champion Cavaliers. Given his incredible performance in Game 7, and his floor spacing abilities, Olynyk could start against the Cavs in Game 1.
Amir Johnson started five of the seven games against the Wizards, as he provided rim protection against the Wizards’ slashers. While that could be useful against Kyrie Irving and LeBron James, Olynyk might provide more all around.
Starting Olynyk alongside Al Horford would give the Celtics a ton of space on the offensive end. Tristan Thompson is Cleveland’s rim protector and rebounding machine. If Olynyk and Horford can keep him away from the basket, they might be able to limit his effectiveness. Since Thompson’s biggest strength(offensive rebounding) is Boston’s biggest weakness, getting him in foul trouble or stretching him outside could be a good strategy.
In the end, Brad Stevens has to decide what’s more important. Olynyk can be a good disruptor of layups at the rim, but Johnson is much better in that regard. Giving Irving and James easier looks around the basket might not be the best idea.
When you guard slashers, you want to make every layup difficult so they are discouraged from going inside. Irving and James are both good scorers on the perimeter, but keeping them from collapsing defenses and getting their role players involved would go a long way in winning games in this series.
I think that the most likely scenario is that Stevens sticks with Johnson in the starting lineup to set a physical tone on the game. He can then bring in Olynyk to stretch the floor and ignite the offense.
The key to beating Cleveland is making things difficult on their stars, and getting multiple stops in a row. Cleveland was the third best offense in the NBA during the regular season, but the 22nd ranked defense. Their opponents so far this postseason haven’t been able to keep up because they haven’t gotten stops.
The Celtics will certainly be their biggest test yet in the playoffs. Maybe Olynyk can carry over his hot shooting and confidence from Game 7 into the eastern conference finals. Either way, Stevens would be wise to give Olynyk starter minutes to stretch the floor and make things difficult on Thompson.