The Boston Celtics will be facing a big challenge against the Pacers without Jaylen Brown
The Boston Celtics are playing their best basketball of the season, but they took a massive hit as Jaylen Brown suffered a gruesome concussion. With the surging Indiana Pacers up next on the schedule, the Celtics will have to figure things out quickly.
The Pacers have challenged the Celtics really well in both of their meetings this season, and Boston is a miracle play from Terry Rozier away from dropping both games. Victor Oladipo has caused a lot of problems, and losing Brown will make it a lot more difficult on defense.
Without Brown, the Celtics will definitely have to see what Marcus Smart can do on Oladipo, but you also have to expect that Jayson Tatum will need to take on that responsibility. Boston still has defenders that they are comfortable with guarding Oladipo, but limiting their options on him limits anything they’d be capable of doing with the rest of their defense.
The worst thing that could happen is the Celtics overcompensate on Oladipo, and sacrifice their overall impact. The Celtics have been playing some of their best defense as a unit, and they are better off seeing Oladipo get comfortable, than the rest of the team continually having weaknesses to attack.
More from Hardwood Houdini
- Boston Celtics’ two-way contract decision will be made after training camp
- Proposed trade sends Boston Celtics playoff killer to the Cs from rival
- ‘Face of Germany’s stunning run’ in FIBA World Cup not the only ex-Boston Celtics player to win gold
- Proposed Boston Celtics trade target pitched for reunion with fired coach
- Battle For Banner 18: Will Boston Celtics battle historical foe in 2024 Finals?
With the way the Celtics have been playing, particularity their second unit, Oladipo should not be able to destroy the game on his own, and the Celtics know they can get an advantage elsewhere. They need to make sure they win any front court battle, and they should be able to trust that Kyrie Irving can step up that scoring if things get too easy for Oladipo.
The other big problem they have to deal with is Myles Turner. The Celtics do not have much traditional size, so Turner will be in a great position to dominate the boards. Boston can go to Aron Baynes, who will put up some great resistance in the paint with Al Horford. That being said, the best case would be forcing Turner into far too uncomfortable positions. Boston wants to use their small ball forwards and bring Turner as far away from the paint as possible. He can still do damage on the outside, but the Celtics will have a much easier task of defending him in that position.
The Celtics often have to accept that one traditional big is going to run wild on the boards, but Horford has been as good as any other big in shutting down that one matchup. Horford is at his best with the versatile guys looking to go on the outside, but he has proven that he will be able to make sure Turner is not giving Oladipo the secondary scoring help he needs.
These teams have played close and tough games, and this could be a potential playoff series preview. The Pacers are one of the surprise teams in the East, with a very real chance at the number three seed. The Celtics have been playing well enough that they will be confident in this one, but the Pacers will see the absence of Brown as a window to take advantage of, and they will be ready to attack any weakness that creates.
Next: How Can the Celtics Overcome Toronto?
It will be interesting to see how Stevens handles the rotation without Brown, but the key will be finding something that allows them to establish the kind of comfort that we have seen since the All Star break. The Pacers are good enough that if the Celtics descend back into any kind of disorganized hero ball, this could end up being an ugly loss for a team that is desperately trying to keep pace with the Raptors.