Served at the head of the racket, Jaylen Brown first thought he could use his physical advantage over Kenrich Williams to push him at the free throw line. But once his back was to the basket, the Celtics winger did not see the trap close: Aaron Wiggins came to help.
The two-hander worked so well that the Celtics almost lost the ball, before recovering it near their own basket. The possession not having changed sides, the same Brown inherited an impossible shot behind the arc, contested. Brown missed the target, like Derrick White, Al Horford and Kristaps Porzingis before him at the same distance.
A few seconds later, almost the same sequence played out, with the same players involved: this time, Brown lost the leather and Cason Wallace was able to finish on the counterattack.
This sequence at the start of the fourth quarter of yesterday's shock clearly illustrates the hell experienced by the Celtics in the second half. After 65 points scored in the first half, the visitors experienced a severe offensive crash: 15 points in the third, then 12 in the last. 27 points in 24 minutes, and 92 points in total, their lowest total of the year.
A step above physically
The explanation put forward by the Thunder? The physical dimension, ““completely different in the second half “, qualifies Mark Daigneault. “ We had to be a little more physical compared to the first half. We played a bit of small ball, that helped. They were a little too comfortable in the first half. We returned the energy in second », Develops Lu Dort.
The latter notably took charge of the Jaylen Brown case. After a fiery first period with 21 points at 8/12 on shots, he finished the second with 0/7 on shots and not one more point on the clock. He and Jrue Holiday, Sam Hauser, Payton Pritchard combined for a terrifying 0/19 shooting in the second half…
“ They had a lot of easy things near the rim in the first half, they clearly had size. We reacted to the 'switching', we were more in contact, we pushed them to take more complicated shots “, lists Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, author of a huge block on Jayson Tatum in the fourth quarter before sending Isaiah Hartenstein to the “alley-oop”.
“ We changed a lot in defense because of (Kristaps) Porzingis, and those changes were sloppy in the first half, tighter in the second. There was no pressure on the ball, on the transmissions. In the second half, more pressure on the ball, transmissions », Summarizes Mark Daigneault, comparing this change of register to that applied against the Wolves at the end of December.
Lack of spacing?
The coach adds: “ It's not schematic or anything complicated. It's defending with great intensity and being what we are, who we need to be. »
The Celtics, for their part, could not be themselves, even if they sought refuge in their main weapon – the 3-point shot – but in vain: 9/46, or 19.6%, their most low rate of the season.
Joe Mazzulla highlights the 17 points on lost balls in the second half obtained by their opponents. A ratio that he puts down to physical weakness, but also a “ bad spacing » and failures on the installed screens.
“ It's just something we have to apply on every possession. We have to fight to get good spacing in every possession. The different duels and different coverages can sometimes ruin everything “, recognizes the coachwhen Jaylen Brown sees “ a lack of composure. See the play, see how the match is called, see the adjustments and be able to adjust more quickly. In the first half, we got free throws, we got what we wanted. »
The winger, whose team got twice as many shots as OKC (24 to 13), adds: “ Then, in the second half, we weren't on the line, they didn't call contact. They increased the pressure level and the whistles were not on our side. It's not serious. We must be able to adapt more quickly and if we do, we must be able to have our spacing. »
| Shots | Rebounds | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Players | MJ | Min | Shots | 3pts | L.F. | Off | Def | Early | Pd | Bp | Int | Ct | Party | Pts |
| Jayson Tatum | 33 | 36.4 | 46.2 | 36.9 | 79.8 | 0.6 | 8.8 | 9.4 | 5.5 | 2.7 | 1.3 | 0.4 | 2.4 | 28.1 |
| Jaylen Brown | 29 | 35.5 | 46.0 | 32.7 | 74.1 | 1.5 | 4.4 | 5.9 | 4.6 | 2.8 | 1.3 | 0.3 | 2.3 | 24.3 |
| Kristaps Porzingis | 13 | 27.4 | 45.2 | 32.9 | 85.7 | 1.5 | 4.9 | 6.5 | 1.6 | 1.0 | 0.7 | 1.4 | 2.5 | 17.8 |
| Derrick White | 35 | 34.3 | 45.2 | 39.2 | 82.2 | 0.9 | 3.6 | 4.5 | 4.4 | 1.7 | 0.9 | 1.3 | 2.1 | 17.1 |
| Payton Pritchard | 36 | 28.1 | 47.1 | 42.4 | 84.0 | 1.4 | 2.3 | 3.8 | 3.3 | 1.0 | 0.9 | 0.1 | 1.7 | 15.2 |
| Jrue Holiday | 30 | 30.7 | 45.0 | 34.0 | 89.4 | 1.2 | 3.1 | 4.3 | 3.9 | 1.4 | 1.0 | 0.4 | 1.5 | 12.0 |
| Al Horford | 28 | 27.8 | 42.0 | 35.9 | 83.3 | 1.0 | 4.5 | 5.4 | 2.3 | 0.9 | 0.7 | 0.9 | 1.6 | 8.7 |
| Sam Hauser | 29 | 21.2 | 42.6 | 37.0 | 100.0 | 0.7 | 2.3 | 3.1 | 1.1 | 0.3 | 0.8 | 0.2 | 1.1 | 7.7 |
| Neemias Queta | 29 | 16.1 | 65.4 | 0.0 | 71.9 | 1.7 | 2.7 | 4.4 | 0.7 | 0.7 | 0.3 | 0.9 | 2.0 | 5.5 |
| Luke Kornett | 30 | 16.7 | 62.1 | 0.0 | 70.5 | 2.1 | 3.0 | 5.1 | 1.5 | 0.4 | 0.5 | 1.0 | 1.2 | 4.6 |
| Drew Peterson | 11 | 9.9 | 50.0 | 41.2 | 85.7 | 0.5 | 1.6 | 2.1 | 0.7 | 0.5 | 0.2 | 0.2 | 0.9 | 3.2 |
| Jordan Walsh | 26 | 8.8 | 34.0 | 25.0 | 50.0 | 0.4 | 0.8 | 1.3 | 0.3 | 0.3 | 0.3 | 0.3 | 0.6 | 1.7 |
| Jaden Springer | 14 | 4.5 | 28.6 | 0.0 | 80.0 | 0.3 | 0.7 | 1.0 | 0.4 | 0.1 | 0.3 | 0.0 | 0.6 | 1.4 |
| Jd Davison | 5 | 4.7 | 40.0 | 33.3 | 50.0 | 0.0 | 0.4 | 0.4 | 0.2 | 1.2 | 0.2 | 0.0 | 0.2 | 1.2 |
| Xavier Tillman, Sr. | 22 | 7.8 | 27.8 | 21.1 | 50.0 | 0.4 | 1.2 | 1.5 | 0.3 | 0.3 | 0.4 | 0.2 | 0.6 | 1.1 |
| Baylor Scheierman | 5 | 6.8 | 10.0 | 0.0 | 100.0 | 0.4 | 1.0 | 1.4 | 0.4 | 0.0 | 0.2 | 0.0 | 0.6 | 0.8 |
