BOSTON – The Boston Celtics were finally able to shift all of their focus to Cleveland after the Cavaliers advanced past Orlando with a Game 7 win Sunday afternoon.
Preparation was underway at Monday’s practice in Brighton, where the C’s highlighted some key areas they’ll need to hone in on against their second-round opponent, starting with Game 1 Tuesday night.
Cleveland’s most obvious strength lies in its backcourt, consisting of a superstar shooting guard in Donovan Mitchell and former All-Star point guard in Darius Garland. Those two will be a handful for Boston’s perimeter defenders, such as Jaylen Brown, Jrue Holiday, and Derrick White, neither of whom can take on the challenges alone.
“Both are incredibly talented guards,” said White. “They’re quick, can shoot it, can score from all three levels, so definitely a difficult challenge. You’ve gotta take that individual pride and take on the challenge and then understand that it's not a one-on-one game. Everybody's gotta be a participant and help each other out.”
Especially when it comes to guarding Mitchell. The five-time All-Star scored 89 points combined in Game 6 and 7 against Orlando, including a 50-piece Game 6 on the road.
“Donovan is just an explosive, strong, three-level scorer,” said Brown. “I think his strength gives him an advantage on a lot of defenders. And the way he changes direction… he’s a good basketball player.”
As good as MItchell is, Joe Mazzulla says the team can’t afford to put too much attention on him because they also have to account for his talented supporting cast.
“You have to pick your poison,” Boston’s head coach said. “It’s gotta be disciplined, but when you’re playing against guys like him and a team that has dynamic guards it usually comes down to the other things. It comes down to the impact that (Caris) LeVert, (Max) Strus, (Evan) Mobley, (Isaac) Okoro, those guys have. Transition defense, offensive rebounds, turnovers – just really all of the details in the margins that we talked about in the last series kinda go under-shadowed when you see a caliber player like a Garland or a Mitchell. It still comes down to the margins and the details in this one.”
Another key detail will be spacing. Cleveland boasts a defensively gifted frontcourt of Mobley and Jarrett Allen (who was sidelined the last three games with a rib injury), so it’s imperative that Boston’s shooters try to space those guys out.
“The spacing is important and rim reads are really important,” Mazzulla said. “They have length on the perimeter too with active hands and they’ve got length in their rim protection, so space discipline and making the right read over and over again are two important things to combat their length.”
And the most important focus is to combat Cleveland’s competitiveness. The Cavs ground out some gritty wins against the Magic last round, none more impressive than their 18-point come-from-behind win in Game 7.
“Cleveland is a tough team,” said Mazzulla. “One of the things they do well is an ability to go on runs with their talent and also their effort and their defense. So, managing the game is super important because they have the ability to really make you pay for the mistakes that you make. And I thought they did a good job of that, especially in Game 7, so it’s good to focus on the details that are important, attacking and defending them, and being ready to go tomorrow.”