{"id":35261,"date":"2022-06-03T17:06:06","date_gmt":"2022-06-03T17:06:06","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/harchi90.com\/ime-udoka-propels-celtics-fourth-quarter-game-1-rally-with-unique-tactics-against-warriors-brian-robb\/"},"modified":"2022-06-03T17:06:06","modified_gmt":"2022-06-03T17:06:06","slug":"ime-udoka-propels-celtics-fourth-quarter-game-1-rally-with-unique-tactics-against-warriors-brian-robb","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/harchi90.com\/ime-udoka-propels-celtics-fourth-quarter-game-1-rally-with-unique-tactics-against-warriors-brian-robb\/","title":{"rendered":"Ime Udoka propels Celtics fourth quarter Game 1 rally with unique tactics against Warriors |  Brian Robb"},"content":{"rendered":"<div>\n<p class=\"article__paragraph article__paragraph--left\" id=\"54Q7VDRHRBF5XNWGL5DQMWA7L4\">The Celtics closed out Game 1 against the Warriors with 12 minutes of basketball that could become the signature moment of the team&#8217;s season.<\/p>\n<p class=\"article__paragraph article__paragraph--left\" id=\"4R4V5O7G6VFZPCCWFWUJSLAK6Y\">Facing a 12-point deficit at the start of the frame, the visitors jumped all over Golden State with a 40-16 period, quickly turning a double-digit deficit into a runaway win by the time Steve Kerr pulled his starters in the final minute .<\/p>\n<p class=\"article__paragraph article__paragraph--left\" id=\"QTX4DFX6ABHIHGDHHDKAPN2FXQ\">Boston&#8217;s win snapped the Warriors&#8217; franchise-high nine-game home postseason winning streak and their streak of 13 straight Game 1s won at home, dating back to last decade.<\/p>\n<ul class=\"article__unordered-list\">\n<li><span><b>Related: <\/b>Shop around for Celtics-Warriors NBA Finals tickets at StubHub, VividSeats &#038; TicketNetwork<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p class=\"article__paragraph article__paragraph--left\" id=\"PRTPFIUIOFBKLDD6LSRVVFAVMA\">It was the worst quarter all postseason long on both ends of the floor for the Warriors with their most points allowed (40) and fewest scored (16) against a Boston squad that won their only Game 1 since the first round of the postseason.  At the center of it all was rookie head coach Ime Udoka.<\/p>\n<p class=\"article__paragraph article__paragraph--left\" id=\"FZFL2Y6GRRFNFG7CWMXXTAJZ5Q\">The 44-year-old has put together quite the resume for himself this postseason, helping the Celtics survive challenging matchups against the Bucks and Heat.  However, his chess moves by him in the fourth quarter of Game 1 opened the door for a historically dominant quarter that changes the outlook of this series for both sides.<\/p>\n<p class=\"article__paragraph article__paragraph--left\" id=\"KB73DN5N4FDFZOWQA6U2PGN5RQ\"><b>Abandoning the double big lineup:<\/b> The Warriors had their way offensively against the Celtics in the third quarter, piling up 38 points with their 3-point shooting and second chance opportunities (23 second-chance points in the first three quarters, including 11 in the third quarter alone).<\/p>\n<p class=\"article__paragraph article__paragraph--left\" id=\"2ZYJRXQ5DVAO3DC3IWJG5B4MPQ\">Boston&#8217;s been a top-ranked defense in large part because of their size in the frontcourt all year long, with Udoka opting to keep two of Al Horford, Rob Williams and Grant Williams on the floor for most of the game until crunch time.<\/p>\n<p class=\"article__paragraph article__paragraph--left\" id=\"TMVE2SIXAFCGBHAPAODPXTZPIY\">However, with the Warriors getting easy looks against Boston bigs in drop coverage or coming off screens and handoffs, Udoka elected to take away an easy target for the Golden State offense in the final frame.  He played with just one big on the floor for the entire fourth quarter, cutting Grant Williams out of the rotation entirely.<\/p>\n<p class=\"article__paragraph article__paragraph--left\" id=\"MK35JNV3O5DK5LHBQEWAOWONXA\">The move paid off greatly on both ends as the Warriors offense (16 points on 41 percent shooting) began to stall without a mismatch to target with their smaller lineups for easy looks.  Boston locked in on playing 1-on-1 defense in even matchups and simply won those battles with this smaller look that let them match up better against a smaller Warriors lineup.  The Celtics tightened up on the glass by going small as well (only one offensive rebound allowed in fourth quarter) and made worthy defensive sacrifices for offensive upside that paid dividends in the team&#8217;s rally.<\/p>\n<p class=\"article__paragraph article__paragraph--left\" id=\"54WZRVLK5NATTIKUEX4UYVNXTY\"><b>Leaning into max shooting volume lineup: <\/b>The Celtics were failing to keep pace with Golden State&#8217;s firepower for much of the first three quarters and that led Udoka to unveil a rarely used lineup at the beginning of the fourth quarter, featuring plenty of high volume 3-point shooters (Payton Pritchard, Derrick White, Brown, Tatum) around a rim rolling big in Rob Williams.  It was a grouping that hadn&#8217;t been used all postseason long and just twice in the regular season (for five total minutes) yet Udoka went to it, opting for a smaller defensive look with more offensive firepower with the game on the line.<\/p>\n<p class=\"article__paragraph article__paragraph--left\" id=\"ICF2MTDLGRE5FOU5WQONLYJQBQ\">The unit trimmed a Warriors&#8217; 12-point lead down to four before Udoka decided to go all-in with his shooting look, bringing back a perimeter threat in Al Horford for Williams.<\/p>\n<p class=\"article__paragraph article__paragraph--left\" id=\"P2XRJFSC7VFEBK37R3RDZXAHBE\">Quite simply, this left no one for the Warriors defense to hide off of defensively if they wanted to give Jayson Tatum or Jaylen Brown extra attention.  All five Boston shooters on the floor were high volume and elite from 3-point range in their career historically except for White, who was red-hot on the this night in particular.<\/p>\n<p class=\"article__paragraph article__paragraph--left\" id=\"DLF3M75SSNBWHKUC2TDTNWFF5U\">Golden State still made the decision to gamble repeatedly against Boston&#8217;s shooting by throwing extra help towards Tatum and Brown.  The Celtics responded by getting red hot from 3-point range, 9-of-12 overall in the frame, punishing the Warriors for conceding the open looks.  While the players deserve credit for making the shots, Udoka&#8217;s lineup decision unlocked the team&#8217;s best floor spacing.  The Pritchard \/ White \/ Tatum \/ Brown \/ Horford had played two minutes together all postseason before Game 1. Their 12-2 run together midway through Game 1 gave the Celtics the lead for good and changed the game.<\/p>\n<p class=\"article__paragraph article__paragraph--left\" id=\"YONTDECDYBCPTDXTW4VDSUZNMQ\"><b>Sticking with Pritchard over Smart for longer than expected:<\/b> This was the perfect example of Udoka&#8217;s gut feel shining through in a positive light.  Marcus Smart was not playing poorly in Game 1 before the fourth quarter and on paper, this was a matchup the team needed him more than ever defensively against the Warriors&#8217; sharpshooting guards.<\/p>\n<p class=\"article__paragraph article__paragraph--left\" id=\"IZC7LOWPGRHRLBU54ONJ7SBZDA\">However, Udoka saw something in how Boston&#8217;s offense looked with Pritchard on the floor from early in the fourth quarter.  His production of lui wasn&#8217;t anything that stood out (five points) but his decision making of him was on point and his reliable 3-point shooting made him a valuable threat with the way the Warriors were playing defense.  Amazingly, Pritchard&#8217;s nose for rebounding (team-high four rebounds in fourth quarter) helped Boston keep Golden State off the offensive glass as well when both teams downsized in the final frame.<\/p>\n<p class=\"article__paragraph article__paragraph--left\" id=\"QXDCRW6GC5AYRAAKJUU2MZJYZE\">Udoka ended up rolling with Pritchard for eight minutes of the fourth quarter, despite the fact Smart was rested and ready to go well before then.  The reserve guard was a plus-18 in the frame, rewarding Udoka for his faith in him before an energized Smart took the baton and made a pair of wide open clutch 3s to help Boston finish off the comeback win.  A lot of coaches would have gone back to Smart earlier based on reputation but Udoka was not that guy in this instance.  The Celtics were better off for it.<\/p>\n<p class=\"article__paragraph article__paragraph--left\" id=\"4YURM5DKCVCA5MAWS5NEX7WOO4\"><b>FINAL THOUGHTS<\/b><\/p>\n<p class=\"article__paragraph article__paragraph--left\" id=\"2UWL5SSKVFGE5BEFL4VPZEUYXM\">When all was said and done, the Celtics played nearly a perfect quarter of basketball and a lot of the credit for that should go to the players.  Jaylen Brown set the tone early on, Jayson Tatum was a willing passer, Al Horford shot the lights out and everything clicked as the team made the right play and pass over and over again.<\/p>\n<p class=\"article__paragraph article__paragraph--left\" id=\"WJERREVOLRCAZM4S3AQXUCV3ZU\">Udoka made plenty of unorthodox choices that fueled this dominant frame though.  Those decisions combined with his relentless implementation of a drive-and-kick offense where extra passes are prioritized (12 fourth quarter assists), produced a comeback that will go down in Finals history.  The Celtics are putting together a special season right now and Udoka&#8217;s chess moves continue to be a big reason why.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The Celtics closed out Game 1 against the Warriors with 12 minutes of basketball that could become the signature moment of the team&#8217;s season. Facing a 12-point deficit at the start of the frame, the visitors jumped all over Golden State with a 40-16 period, quickly turning a double-digit deficit into a runaway win by &hellip;<\/p>\n<p class=\"read-more\"> <a class=\"\" href=\"https:\/\/harchi90.com\/ime-udoka-propels-celtics-fourth-quarter-game-1-rally-with-unique-tactics-against-warriors-brian-robb\/\"> <span class=\"screen-reader-text\">Ime Udoka propels Celtics fourth quarter Game 1 rally with unique tactics against Warriors |  Brian Robb<\/span> Read More &raquo;<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"site-sidebar-layout":"default","site-content-layout":"default","ast-main-header-display":"","ast-hfb-above-header-display":"","ast-hfb-below-header-display":"","ast-hfb-mobile-header-display":"","site-post-title":"","ast-breadcrumbs-content":"","ast-featured-img":"","footer-sml-layout":"","theme-transparent-header-meta":"","adv-header-id-meta":"","stick-header-meta":"","header-above-stick-meta":"","header-main-stick-meta":"","header-below-stick-meta":"","spay_email":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_is_tweetstorm":false,"jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true},"categories":[11],"tags":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/www.masslive.com\/resizer\/tG7iVe-9lcThN9E0ptK220V-M3Y=\/1280x0\/smart\/cloudfront-us-east-1.images.arcpublishing.com\/advancelocal\/VS5CNWYJ4FGGFJR2E2C7G7XZSU.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/harchi90.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/35261"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/harchi90.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/harchi90.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/harchi90.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/harchi90.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=35261"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/harchi90.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/35261\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/harchi90.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=35261"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/harchi90.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=35261"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/harchi90.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=35261"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}