On Sunday, Draymond Green left Jaylen Brown wide open from the perimeter many times. Brown consistently forced Green and the Warriors to pay.
It turns out that the Warriors’ deliberate defensive approach, which was thoroughly outclassed by the Celtics in a 140-88 victory, included the wide-open jumpers. After the game, Green and head coach Steve Kerr spoke about that tactic. Brown gave his consent once the Warriors presented their case.
Kerr told reporters,
“You try different things. You have to pick your matchups. We wanted Draymond to be able to help on drives and make sure that we weren’t giving up easy stuff in the paint.”
Jaylen Brown approved of this strategy on Twitter saying that more teams should use it against him. Warriors star Draymond Green also admitted that they went with this tactic 15 minutes before the tip-off and had no full defensive strategy for the game.
During the post-match presser, however, Brown found it disrespectful.
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However, he reiterated that this wasn’t a personal gripe with the Warriors.
Jaylen Brown and the Celtics dismantle Golden State with their 50+ point victory this season
Jaylen Brown isn’t a particularly good 3-point shooter. He’s more than competent though, as an All-Star who averages 22.3 points per game and shoots 36.3% from long range across his career. It’s like inviting someone to shoot practice when you leave a professional scorer as exposed as the screenshots below show.
Hence, the strategy was very beneficial for the player. Jaylen Brown came to life during the 1st quarter and buried 19 points. He ended up scoring 29 and was replaced midway through the third quarter. He had a field goal percentage of almost 58% and a three-point percentage of 50%. The tactic failed in a big way.
Jayson Tatum also provided great help to Brown. The Celtics no.1 was dormant during the first quarter but came to life during the 2nd. He scored 27 points with a +/- of +40. The bench, too, held their own and kept the lead to ensure a big win for the current league leaders. The standout among them was Payton Pritchard who scored 19 points and had a 3pt percentage of 60%.
It ended up being a statement win for the Celtics. Beating the Warriors by more than 50 points doesn’t happen often. Boston was that good on the day.
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