Celtics have one glaring problem that must be solved before playoffs begin

Thursday night’s showdown with the Knicks in Madison Square Garden felt a lot like a playoff game, and it was likely a preview of a second-round playoff matchup we’ll see in a few weeks. While it was a frustrating loss for the Celtics, there were plenty of positive takeaways, and they took it right down to the wire despite Jaylen Brown taking the night off.

If Boston sees the Knicks again in round two, they should feel confident in their ability to win the series this time around, but there is one glaring problem that has no clear solution, and it’s the pick-and-roll coverage with their big men.

Whether it was Neemias Queta or Nikola Vucevic on the floor, the Celtics were getting killed by Brunson in PNR. The fact that they don’t have a center who can capably switch, or even play at the level, was devastating, as Brunson picked apart the drop coverage over and over again.

Celtics couldn't stop the Brunson pick-and-roll

The Cs tried hiding their bigs on Josh Hart, and he made them pay. They tried them on KAT, and he dragged them outside for open threes or rolled into a pocket for easy layups, and they tried them with Mitchell Robinson and watched him throw down alley-oops.

Too often, Queta and Vooch were flat-footed in no-man's land while a Knicks screener was finishing an easy basket or putting up a wide-open three. Neemy has been an elite defensive center all season long, but he basically got played off the floor by the Bruson and KAT two-man game.

Vooch’s defense is just plain hard to watch, and closing games with him in the playoffs can’t be the answer either. I’ve advocated for Luka Garza to keep his spot in the rotation, but his defense isn’t going to get the job done in this matchup either. At this point in the season, the Celtics obviously can’t change their personnel, and they’re not likely to make drastic changes to their scheme.

Celtics may need to go small with Tatum at 5

But if this does become a playoff matchup, they are going to have to play defense with a lot more conviction. They are going to have to get Queta ready for this matchup, and he’s going to have to either find a way to hedge over screens, play at the level, or even switch onto Brunson at times. If he can’t do that, the Celtics are going to need to blitz and find ways to close out on Hart.

The one other button they have to press, that we didn’t see at all on Thursday night, is Jayson Tatum playing the five. We’ve seen some small-ball recently, and it has looked pretty good, but we didn’t see it in MSG. Maybe Joe is saving it for the playoffs, or maybe he doesn’t like taking his bigs off the floor against the likes of KAT and Robinson.

Whatever the answer is, it has to be something. The Celtics can’t go into a playoff series with the Knicks relying on this deep drop and just hoping New York misses shots. I’m sure Mazzulla is saving some stuff and didn’t want to tip his hand, but this is going to be an x-factor that could end up deciding the series.