I haven't thought this all the way through, but I sort of feel outside of short runs that playing Kleber as the small ball 5 is playing right into the Celtics hands. I am just not sure how effective Gafford will be though. One of the benefits we have gotten playing with a big most of the time is it really stresses a defense. You may not have that 5 out feel with a totally spread floor but playing a big provides a ton of benefits. I just think our secret sauce is while the court is not fully spread, it really stresses a defense out. You need to pick your poison of letting Luka get into the paint to finish (very high percentage shot plus fouls), a rim run (an extremely high percentage shot), and a corner three (good percentage shot plus this also leads to offensive rebounds). I can argue this is more scary for teams than a totally spread floor. Especially with a guy like LUka.
Two issues though. Boston will switch a lot. Typically I am not the biggest fan when we hunt for the switch and the rest of the players are watching. So I hope we have a lot of movement on offense. This could also lead to Boston getting lost on some switches. This is when Luka excels. I like those double screens we run. It gives Luka more options.
Defense is the big concern though. Dallas will need to be really connected on defense (they have been) but Boston can still give you hell with their offense. In a perfect world, we really limit the easy baskets and at least contest most of their threes. Is that a winning formula? Not so sure, but if we can tread water with Gafford for 15-20 minutes, be positive with Lively for around 24 and have a nice short burst with Maxi for the rest, then I think that is what I envision.
Also, I can't remember the exact conversation, but Zach Lowe was discussing the Celtics defense. They have allowed 71% at the rim in the playoffs, but only 29% from the corner three. Lowe thought if KP returns this number at the rim will go down. He said though this could be an area for Dallas to exploit. No one is better creating corner threes than Luka. So if they can still shoot a high percentage at the rim but also shoot better from the corner three than Boston has given up so far, that could be an area Dallas takes advantage of.
Two issues though. Boston will switch a lot. Typically I am not the biggest fan when we hunt for the switch and the rest of the players are watching. So I hope we have a lot of movement on offense. This could also lead to Boston getting lost on some switches. This is when Luka excels. I like those double screens we run. It gives Luka more options.
Defense is the big concern though. Dallas will need to be really connected on defense (they have been) but Boston can still give you hell with their offense. In a perfect world, we really limit the easy baskets and at least contest most of their threes. Is that a winning formula? Not so sure, but if we can tread water with Gafford for 15-20 minutes, be positive with Lively for around 24 and have a nice short burst with Maxi for the rest, then I think that is what I envision.
Also, I can't remember the exact conversation, but Zach Lowe was discussing the Celtics defense. They have allowed 71% at the rim in the playoffs, but only 29% from the corner three. Lowe thought if KP returns this number at the rim will go down. He said though this could be an area for Dallas to exploit. No one is better creating corner threes than Luka. So if they can still shoot a high percentage at the rim but also shoot better from the corner three than Boston has given up so far, that could be an area Dallas takes advantage of.
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