Jaylen Brown was the architect of the Celtics’ 52-point win over the Warriors, scoring 29 points in just 22 minutes of action. Steve Kerr revealed that the Warriors intentionally sagged off Brown’s three-point attempts to try and cover everyone else off, a decision they’d come to regret. Brown joked about the same on social media, saying more teams should use this strategy as well.
“More teams should take this strategy.”
Brown went 5-10 from three-point range, helping the Celtics open up a massive 44-point first-half lead. This lead was enough to make Golden State bench everybody on their team at halftime with the hopes that the next game would lead to a win.
Kerr explained the full reason behind why the Warriors decided to sag off Brown’s three-point attempts.
“You try different things. You have to pick your matchups. We wanted to be able to help on drives and make sure we weren’t giving up easy stuff in the paint. The killer was the transition from beginning to end, they got 42 transition points. You can’t win a game with that kind of lack of defensive awareness.”
Steve Kerr on the decision to sag off Jaylen Brown:
“You try different things. You have to pick your matchups.” pic.twitter.com/2wXgeqWLqV
— Justin Turpin (@JustinmTurpin) March 3, 2024
Brown led all scorers from the Celtics with his 29-point night, followed by Jayson Tatum dropping 27 points himself. They played 12 players on the night with each playing over 10 minutes, showing the scale of the blowout. The entire fourth quarter was garbage time for them, with the Warriors treating the second half as a non-factor by subbing in the bench.
Golden State didn’t even try to fight back as the Celtics are now on an 11-game win streak, running away with the best record in the league.
The Celtics Are Unstoppable
It’s becoming clear that this season’s title race may come down to Celtics versus the entire league as no team looks even remotely competitive with the Boston-based franchise. They hold an 8.5-game lead over the second-seeded Milwaukee Bucks and a 6.5-game lead over the OKC Thunder, Denver Nuggets, and Minnesota Timberwolves in the West.
Jayson Tatum is being pushed for MVP because of the Celtics’ domination. He’s averaging 27.1 points, 8.4 rebounds, and 4.8 assists in a great season, but the reason for Boston’s success isn’t Tatum by any stretch. The entire team has been healthy and performing at an incredibly high level, with Joe Mazzulla orchestrating a soccer-like system that is making the Celtics unbeatable.
Tatum shouldn’t be considered MVP just because the Celtics are the best team in the NBA because it is a disservice to the sensational supporting cast around him. Brown is averaging 22.5 points, 5.5 rebounds, and 3.7 assists as one of the best two-way swingmen in the league. Derrick White and Jrue Holiday have formed the best defensive backcourt in the NBA, while Kristaps Porzingis is averaging 20.3 points and 6.9 rebounds in one of the best seasons of his career.
If they remain healthy, this unit will run over the East and be favored to beat anyone in the West. We’ve seen the Celtics fall apart in the postseason despite being favorites before, so the pressure will be immense for the players and the franchise to finally deliver on winning the franchise’s 18th championship.
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