Hoops Tonight - Celtics-Heat Game 5 Reaction: Jayson Tatum & Boston stomp Jimmy Butler & Heat

to you by Chase Freedom Unlimited. How do you cash back? Well, the Boston Celtics are now halfway to the greatest comeback in the history of the NBA, and I did a video yesterday talking about three things that I thought they had to do to have a chance to pull this off, and I thought a lot of those things kind of came to fruition in this particular game. I'm excited to break it all down. You guys know the job before we get started. Subscribe to The Volume's YouTube channels. You

don't miss any more of our videos. Follow me on Twitter at Underscore Jason ltus. You guys don't miss an show announcements, And if, for whatever reason, you miss one of these videos and you can't get back over to YouTube to finish, don't forget you can find them wherever you get your podcasts under Hoops Tonight. Last but not least, you guys have heard me talk about game Time, the

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dollars off. Download game Time today, last minute tickets, lowest price guaranteed. All right, let's talk some basketball. So you know, there's this old cliche. I think it actually originally was from a basketball coach. I might be wrong about that, but the cliche goes, hard work beats talent when talent doesn't work hard. Now in this series, it's a little more convoluted than that, because that's not just hard work

from Miami. It's also better execution, which was kind of a theme during the NBA Finals last year that that was the probably the biggest driving factor was execution. So it's less about trying hard and more about making the right basketball decisions on a play by play basis. But fundamentally, the biggest difference between this year's Boston team and last

year's Boston team is their consistency of effort. Last year, execution kind of ebbed and flowed and they would get out of the out of whack that way, but they were always consistently a dominant defensive team, and they just haven't been that way this year throughout the entire regular season and then again in this postseason run. Going into Game four, they were eight points worse per one hundred possessions on the defensive end than they were in last

year's playoff. Runt that's a huge difference. Think about how much that would be on the offensive end of the floor. Like for that Denver series, they score one hundred and twenty two points per one hundred posessions against the Lakers. Imagine if that's one hundred and fourteen instead, You're not looking at a sweep anymore. You might be looking at a long series or a Laker win Like that's this huge. That's a gigantic difference in commitment to the defensive end

of the floor. So hard work does beat talent when talent doesn't work hard, But when the talent does work hard, there's nothing you can do about it. And that combination with Boston in particular is so devastating. We did that video yesterday talking about the three things Boston had to do to pull off this comeback, and the first one was fight, because in game three they did not fight.

They let go of the rope and let themselves get their ass kicked by an inferior team from a talent peron effective right, and they brought the requisite fight in game four they responded to the runs. That was step one. Could they continue that into this game absolutely? And you saw that in all of the effort and energy parts of the game. They had a seventeen to seven advantage in second chance points, but particularly you saw it on

the defensive end of the floor. Like, you're gonna see certain things that are impacted by length and athleticism, which is an advantage that Boston has. You're gonna see that contested rebound situations. Boston out rebounded them tonight. You're gonna see that running up and down the floor in transition. You know, uh, Boston got out in transition more tonight. Like,

that's a huge natural part that comes with athleticism. And that's easy because the offensive end is kind of easy, right, But the defensive end is the number one place where your athletic tools can impact winning, and so to not devote resources in that direction is to play directly into Miami's strengths. The defensive intensity has to be the identity

of this team that everything flows from. Remember last year, they would have these stretches where they would struggle with execution, they'd take some bad shots, they wouldn't be driving to kick, they'd be driving to try to finish in traffic, they'd complain about fouls, and they'd struggle with some transition defense stuff. As they're getting stuck in the front court. But the defensive end was a consistent piece for them last year.

It has to be part of their identity. They forced the heat for the second consecutive game into sixteen turnovers, and just like in Game four, those sixteen turnovers led to twenty seven points off of turnovers. They dominated the game on the defensive end of the floor, and that was the difference. That has to be the identity of this team. But those of you guys who remember the third piece that I mentioned was Jason Tatum has to be the focal point of the offense and the idea

there was rhythm. This is one of the most underdiscussed elements in the game of basketball. But you know, all things considered, why does a shot miss versus make right?

There's a muscle memory involved. And I talk about this a lot, but like you know, NBA level shooters, Like if I put Jason Tatum on a shooting machine or just gave him two assistant coaches to rebound, and I said, take one hundred catch and shoot threes from the top of the key, he's gonna make close to eighty of them, probably somewhere right around seventy five, seventy seven of those one hundred shots, if not more, Yes, Steph Curry to do that drill. He is making ninety of them right.

So why is it that that dips down to forty percent or less in a big playoff game. And the answer is because in a basketball game, it's not as clear cut. It's there's a rhythm, there's a there is a flow to the game, and it's the guy that feels most comfortable with the basketball in his hands that typically ends up handling the ball better, shooting the ball better. The game slows down for them mentally, and they make reads better. But you have to be in a flow.

It's something you gain over the court of the game. And so if you disperse your ball handling responsibilities too much, you could end up in a situation where no one is really feeling good. It's kind of like the too many hands in the pot element. Those of you guys who listen to the show, and I know there's some of you out there that play in high school or

playing college. You ever go up to like a rec center or a just any la fitness or something to play pickup and you meet up with a bunch of your buddies who also play in college, and they're all good players, and you all get on the same team, and just the team just feels janki and there's not really a ton of flow, even though you're all talented and you all know how to play, but it's because you all can do stuff with the ball in your hands, and there isn't a clear cut hierarchy, and sometimes it

helps to just have one guy who's the guy and everyone else kind of playing off of them. And that's where Boston is at their best offensively, when the vast majority of possessions are dictated by Jason Tatum, and then Jalen Brown gets his token ice on the side, and

then everyone else is playing off of that attention. Everyone else is attacking on the second side when Jason Tatum kicks to them and the defense is already in rotation, attacking closeouts looking to shoot, catch and shoot jumpers rather than trying to run plays for themselves. That's when Boston is at their best. And from the very start of this game, Jason Tatum absolutely dominated the basketball on the

offensive end of the floor. First possession, transition push, don't mess around with the half court if you don't need to. He's one of the best athletes on the floor. Gets a nice left handed layup off the glass. Then next possession runs a side pick and roll with Al Horford hits him with the pocket pass right, so hasn't really done anything too extravagant, but the ball's flowing through him.

From there, he starts attacking Kevin Love in pick and roll, so much so that Eric Spolster promptly picks him out of the game. So first one he runs a I think, if I remember correctly, at this point in the game, Kyle Lowry's guarding him, so he runs a pick and roll with Kevin Love and Al Horford's the screener and he comes off to the right side and Kyle Lowers chasing over the top of the screen, and Kevin Love just decides to leave and go back to Al Horford.

So Jason Tatum goes up boom dunks it with two hands. Very next possession, they run the exact same play, right, Just don't need to do anything else, don't need to go to a different player, don't need to run a set like You've got an action that's working with a really good player that's now in rhythm, so Tatum dribbles off the screen. This time Kevin loves lingers and stays with Jason Tatum while Kyle Lowers chasing over the top. Throws the pass back to Alhover at the top of

the key. Quick swing in the corner to Jaylen Brown, who's wide open because a bam at a bio had to rotate, gets a wide open three and he knocks it down. After that, a couple possessions later, cleared side ISO against Max Strus. We talked a lot about this in our show yesterday. But when you clear the side, it makes it so that help can only come from one side, And when help is only coming from one side, that makes it a lot harder for that defender, gives

you more space to work with. He ends up beaten struce off the dribble to the right into the middle of the lane. Marcus Smart cuts down the middle, relocates to the left corner. Tatum throws a beautiful hook pass back over his head too. Smart in the left corner knocks down the three. After that, a nice little transition push and draws apply some rim pressure, draws multiple defenders. Swings to Al Horford. Another extra pass to Marcus Smart

in the corner another three. Then those you guys might remember him trying to post up Max Struce on the right wing in a in a clear side ISO situation, Jalen Brown kind of looks him off. Jalen Brown starts mixing up with the basketball. Jason Tatum is still calling for it. Then he spins off because Max Strews is trying to front him, and on the spin off, Jalen actually does lead him towards the basket, and Tatum makes this ridiculous touch pass to Al Horford in the corner

because again he's just seeing everything before it's happening. Because he's dominating every possession, he has control of the flow of the game. Now Horford ends up not shooting the ball, it ends up getting worked around. He goes back to

Marcus Martin in the corner. He misses the three, but there's an offensive rebound and Jason Tatum gets a wide open three on the left wing, which he's going to make because the ball feels great in his hands because he's had control of it over the course of the game. Then Tyler Zeller checks into the game, Jason Tatum immediately

starts attacking it. So Robert Williams is a really nice shop on the first one of flipping the screen, so he sets up like he's going to go to the right side, on the right side of the screen, so to get Tatum going to his left, so Zeller sets up in a drop coverage on the right side of the screen if he's facing Tatum right. At the last second, Rob Williams flips the screen and as a result, Tatum gets around him, gets into the lane and ends up making a really nice and one layup over Cody Martin.

So again you can tell in Miami's coverage, Zeller has to pick a side of the screen based on which way he thinks Tatum is going so that he can catch him as he's driving to the rim. So flipping the screen caught Zeller on the wrong side, so very next possession again, don't need to do anything different. You've got something here that's working. These Miami heat pick and roll defenders, these screen defenders in particular, cannot guard Jason Tatum in high pick and roll, so they're on the

exact same thing. This time, Zeller stays on that. Zeller stays on the right side this time, expecting Rob to flip the screen again, just like he did on the previous possession. Nope, this time Rob stays on the right side of Tatum. Tatum goes right around him, goes up and throws down that vicious one handed jackhammer smash Towards the end of the first quarter. Again, at this point, the game's basically over. They're up what eighteen or whatever

they were up at that point. Everything's through Tatum Again. I've said this a million times. I think Boston has the most talented roster in the entire NBA, but there needs to be a natural They have to organize themselves just like any other basketball team. They need guys who run primary side action, secondary side action, guys who could spot up in tach close out big man that can operate in screen and pop screen and roll situations. Right, same thing goes for the defensive end of the four.

There's a list of responsibilities in your point attack guy, your lockin trail guy, your ball screen defender, your low man defender, like, there's all these different things that you're trying to fill in responsibilities on the court. Just because you have more talent doesn't mean that those responsibilities don't need to be filled they do. And one of the key responsibilities, like we talked about, is you need to have not just aggregate ball handling, but top end ball handling.

Your best ball handler needs to have good control over a basketball game. Now, Jason Tatum, I don't think is as good as Jimmy Butler. I think Jimmy Butler's proven that over the last few playoff runs with less talent, He's going toe to toe with Jason Tatum and back to back playoff series. Right, But if you run everything through Tatum and you let him be the focal point of the offense, he can at the very least play

Jimmy Butler close. And if he plays him close, then your athleticism advantage, your off ball shooting advantage, your overall talent advantage, or overall all of those things will carry you the rest of the way. And it just slots every into a role. Right, all of a sudden, Derek White's taking a lot more catch and shoot threes instead

of doing stuff off of the bounce. Right, all of a sudden, Jalen Brown's ISO touches that he gets aren't taking away from Tatum, They're taking away from the other players, which who cares Tatum's the guy we want in a rhythm. Now, Jaln Brown's in a better rhythm because he's getting his touches. It all just flows better when they slot properly, with Tatum acting like a superstar rather than just one cog in a complicated offensive system. Angie's List is now. Angie

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That's a Ngi dot com. And you know, one of the biggest advantages of the way this game played out, same thing goes for Game four, was there was a big lead. Like in Game four, they were up double digits the vast majority of the fourth quarter. Game five, they're up twenty plus most of the second half. Right. What that does is that relieves the pressure. This Boston team, there's so talent, did that when they play low pressure basketball and they're just kind of free flowing and it's okay.

If somebody randomly takes a bad shot, it's not going to totally disrupt things. They can get back down and go execute properly on the next possession. They just play free. They play low pressure basketball, and they look great but when things slow down, this is crazy. This stat is just mind boggling. In the first two games, when the game was in a clutch situation, so when the score was within five with less than five minutes left, they

played seven total minutes of clutch basketball. In the first two games of the series, Miami had a plus seventy point two net rating in those seven minutes. They held Boston to a fifty three offensive rating, and they scored against Boston at a one twenty four offensive rating. They dominate Boston in the slow down environment because in that slow down environment, that's where Miami's execution advantage becomes a big deal. Suddenly Boston tightens up up, they start to

get nervous. That starts to lead into their worst tendencies and they can have problems. Big margins equals loose basketball. Small margins equals tight basketball. You get the point, and in a tight basketball game, Miami has a huge advantage. And so as we look forward to Game six Boston, I haven't seen it yet, and maybe Ryan, you could check that out and text it to me. But there I'm not sure what the line is yet, but my guess is that it's somewhere around five or six points,

like Boston's gonna be a significant favorite. But everything is going to come down to can they keep the game in that loose, kind of free flowing nature. If Miami can keep it close, Miami can keep it close, they have a chance to end this series in six. Ryan just text me it looks like Boston's only a three point favorite, so it's a little bit less than I thought. Again, they're probably factoring in there that Miami's gonna play a very Miami's gonna play very desperate brand of basketball, which

I expect them to. Miami's not gonna want anything to do with the games evan on the road in Boston. But I think Boston would win a game seven. So everything comes down to Game six in Miami. Gotta keep it close, got to find a way to slow the game down into a slow down half court environment. Now, I was generally impressed with Miami today in the sense with just how they competed. You know. I thought Duncan Robinson did a lot of really good stuff off of

the bounce creating shots. I thought that Caleb Martin still had his scoring pop that he had earlier. Heyward Highsmith A Haywood high Smith just using his athleticism to make plays defensively, knocking down open shots, attacking the rim when he had opportunities to. They they competed, but there's a talent advantage here, and so again for Miami in particular, they're going to have to throw the kitchen sink in

game six to keep this thing close. And then from there, it's the exact same thing that they used to win games one, two, and three. Slow down the game, keep it in the half court, take care of the basketball so you can keep your defense set, and then on the offensive end of the floor, match up hunt with cleared side ISOs for Jimmy Butler, with Pam Andebayo operating in that kind of dunker spots, a semi circle area

as a release valve. That's when they are at their best, and just letting Jason Jimmy Butler make plays again like it's gonna be they They've dug themselves in a hole the Celtics tab, so it's gonna require perfection in order to close this thing out. And Miami's a great team with two fantastic players at the top and the best coach in the league, and they're gonna have their home crowd behind them in a desperate situation to get to

the NBA Finals. But you are the more talented team, Boston, and when you play hard and you run everything through Jason Tatum, you are the better team, and so that that's gonna be the key for them in Game six. All Right, guys, that is all I have for tonight. Keep an eye on the feeds tomorrow morning. I've got a thirty five minute special that I recorded today that just goes over all things NBA offseason for the Los

Angeles Lakers. Dove into a bunch of stuff there, and then we will be going live again on Saturday night after the final buzzer of Game six of the Eastern Conference Finals. As always, I appreciate you guys rocking with me, and I'll see you tomorrow morning. The volume