What the Wizards did to the Celtics in the 4th: Could We See It Again Tonight?

When Celtics fans saw the first of many Rasual Butler 3s drop on the first possession of the 4^th quarter, we all knew what was coming. No lead shy of 30 seems safe. It’s sad, but true.

So when the Celtics went into the 4^th with an 18 point lead Sunday, we all collectively held our breath, waiting for the inevitable. Sure enough, the Wizards were able to cut the lead down to 7 in a span of two minutes and 20 seconds before a Brad Stevens’ timeout.

To their credit, despite 34 Wizards points and 8 Boston turnovers, the Cs held on, an encouraging sign. What’s more is this Celtics defense is looking better by the day, and held a good team to just 59 points through 3 quarters.

So what did a Wizards offense that had scored 59 points through 3 quarters while shooting 33% and turning the ball over 17 times do to completely flip the switch in the 4^th?

Randy Wittman went small. The Wizards started the 4^th with a lineup of John Wall, Otto Porter, Rasual Butler, Paul Pierce and Nene. The goal here was to spread the floor with shooters and allow his best player, John Wall, to do what he does best: attack the rim and find shots for his teammates.

This was a night and day change compared to the first three quarters, where the Wizards played two conventional post players the whole time. Between Marcin Gortat, Nene, Kris Humprhies and Kevin Seraphin, the Wizards have an above average big man rotation and a rather deep bench behind their starting post players. Wittman’s decision to go with a small lineup negates the Wizards size advantage down low. In fact, Gortat, who many would argue is the Wizards most important player behind John Wall and Bradley Beal, was on the bench for the entire 4^th quarter.

Wittman essentially benched Gortat in favor of Rasual Butler, and it worked. The Wizards put up 34 points in the 4^th, at least 11 points better than their output in each of the first three quarters. The Celtics struggled to guard the 3 point line with their initial lineups, which had two bigs, and the defense didn’t get much better when they slid Jeff Green to the 4 about half way through the period. Had Wittman made the decision to use a smaller lineup earlier in the game, the outcome could have been different, giving the Celtics something to think about heading into Monday night’s rematch.

Why It Worked

This line up was successful for the same reason many NBA coaches are going with small ball type lineups: spacing. The Wizards were able to run a high pick and roll with one of the league’s best penetrators and distributors while spacing the floor with three other guys who can knock down shots. The Celtics, who have been doing a much better job rotating and taking away the roll man with their pick and roll coverage, learned quickly that a Rasual Butler corner 3 hurts a lot more than a Kris Humphries mid-range jumper.

Here are a couple of examples to illustrate just what I’m talking about. In the first, Washington gets an easy open three off of one pass.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0u672YA6YtM

The second is an example of the Celtics staying home on shooters, clearing the lane for Nene.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3iG-gb42Vo8

Wall and the rest of this lineup wreaked havoc on a Boston defense that had been strong all day. Wall was able to get into the paint and draw multiple defenders to find shooters, Washington’s post players did a nice job finding the open man when the defense collapsed, and when the defense stayed at home to take away the three point shot, the paint was left wide open. The Celtics really had no answer for the Wizards in the 4^th. Even the shots the Wizards missed were good looks that the Celtics won’t want to give up tonight. Had it not been for a few clutch plays like a Brandon Bass block or an Avery Bradley corner 3, the Cs may have seen another great effort through 3 quarters slip away in the 4^th.

What They Can Do To Stop It

The Celtics held on for the victory Sunday afternoon. They made some winning plays late in the game that have been absent from 4^th quarters all season long, and put together a great defensive effort against a top team in the Eastern Conference for three quarters. With that being said, it will be interesting to see if Wittman utilizes this smaller lineup earlier and more often tonight. If the two big offense continues to stall for Washington, I wouldn’t be surprised to see them go with Pierce at the 4 to see if they can generate some points.

It’s going to be a challenge for the Celtics no matter what strategy they decide to go with to guard that lineup, but there are a few different ways Brad Stevens can combat Washington’s small ball.

• Personnel changes- Sliding Jeff Green to the 4 spot when the Wizards go small is the Celtics obvious response here, but they were still relatively ineffective with this lineup. The Celtics were actually up 10 when Green came in, and Washington took the lead three and a half minutes later. I still think this is the Celtics best option as a short term fix, but Green can’t fall asleep on the back side and must be ready to rotate out to shooters.
• Clean up the rotations- This is the long term fix and will need to be utilized against other small lineups that space the floor well throughout the season. The Celtics rotations have been much better in the past week and a half or so, but when the Wizards went small and it wasn’t clear who the help guy should be, some of the same communication problems we’ve seen before came back to haunt the Cs. The Celtics will have to be on the same page and have excellent communication to defend a lineup that spaces the floor and forces difficult rotations.
• Take advantage on the other end- The Celtics shot only 39% and turned the ball over 8 times against Washington’s small lineup. However, this is a relatively weak defensive lineup for Washington, the Celtics should look to take advantage by attacking the basket with Washington’s lack of size on the floor. You could also see the Celtics employing a similar strategy with a lineup like Rondo, Thorton, Bradley, Green and Zeller/Sullinger, where they spread the floor with shooters and allow Rondo to create.
• Switch all pick and rolls- The only time I would use this strategy would be late in the game. Stevens could go with a lineup of Rondo, Bradley, Turner, Green and Bass and simply switch all pick and rolls. This may be enough to take Washington out of its rhythm and force more one on one play late.

Tonight will certainly not be the last time the Celtics are forced to defend a small lineup that spaces the floor well. While Wittman won’t turn to this lineup for the majority of the game, I’d expect him to use it in key stretches Monday night including the 4^th quarter, depending on game flow. The Celtics have had 24 hours to come up with a solution that could very well make or break the game, and it will be interesting to see what Brad Stevens came up with.