As the Boston Celtics prepare for the NBA Finals tomorrow, former team President Danny Ainge looked back on how the franchise was able to get there in the first place.
According to Ainge, it was the Kemba Walker trade (the one that brought in Al Horford) that should be credited as the turning point of the season for Boston.
(via Heavy):
“I think that, by moving Kemba [Walker],” Ainge told NBA insider Steve Bulpett. “It allowed Marcus (Smart), Jaylen (Brown) and Jayson (Tatum) and Robert Williams to really thrive in positional size, with Horford taking up a big responsibility in the front line for Robert and moving Jaylen, Jayson and Marcus to their positions where they can have size advantages. It’s just a better fit. I think that is really clear.”
The key for the Celtics is their tenacious defense, which made life difficult for Giannis Antetokounmpo, Kevin Durant, and Jimmy Butler in the first three series so far:
“I think it makes your defense so much better,” said Ainge. “You don’t really have any weak holes in your defense at all. There’s a lot of small players that we had, with Kemba and Isaiah Thomas, and Kyrie (Irving) had pretty good size for a point guard, but he was smaller. Sometimes there’s some defensive liability with those great small players. You don’t have the same dynamic offensive point guard in Marcus, but he brings such a different element with his ability to pass and his ability to post up and rebound. But more than anything, the versatility that he has to be able to guard 1 through 5, I mean, that’s really increased the defensive ability of their team.”
Whatever, or whoever, deserves the most credit for Boston’s run, their biggest challenge is yet to come. Against the Warriors, they will need more than good defense and a pair of explosive scorers.
They will have to play without flaw on both ends of the floor if they really want to come out on top in these Finals.
