10 takeaways from Celtics vs. Sixers: a Christmas showdown

In a thrilling Christmas game, the Celtics faced challenges against Tyrese Maxey’s speed and the Sixers’ offensive execution. Despite strong individual performances, Boston’s defense struggled to contain key matchups, revealing areas for growth as the season progresses.

#1 – Boston offense from Horns Set

The Horns Set is one of the oldest tricks in the playbook. A few times last night, the Celtics were able to generate great shots from this set – and it’s fun to see the variety of actions you can run from it.

In the first example, the Celtics used it to create a mismatch for Jayson Tatum:

The down screen forces Yabusele, a former Celtic, to switch onto him, and Jayson Tatum can play from there. The Celtics also like to use the Horns Set with three off-ball shooters. This is called Horns Flare, where the ball handler passes to one of the high post players and then runs toward the other one to use it as a screener.

As the defense read the system well, it didn’t create a big enough gap for Payton Pritchard. However, the Celtics are resourceful and turned this into a pick-and-pop between Derrick White and Kristaps Porzingis. That’s one of the reasons Joe Mazzulla and his staff love this set. There are many layers and many ways to exploit it and punish the opponent’s defense.

#2 – Tyrese Maxey vs. Celtics pick-and-roll defense

Last night, the young Sixers guard exposed one of the Celtics’ hidden weaknesses: pick-and-roll defense against quick guards. We saw glimpses of this last season against the Cavaliers and Donovan Mitchell in the playoffs, for example.

Overall, the Sixers ran 22 pick-and-rolls last night, 11 of which turned into shots for the ball handler, and 11 into pick-and-roll actions. On these 22 actions, the Sixers scored 32 points, giving them a 145 offensive rating with one of the most basic actions.

Why did it work so well against the Celtics last night? First, Embiid made 4 out of 5 three-pointers, which boosted the pick-and-pop efficiency. The second reason, and probably the biggest takeaway from the game, is the Celtics’ inability to contain Tyrese Maxey’s speed.

They tried multiple coverages. They iced the pick-and-roll, forcing him away from the center of the court. They blitzed him, sending two players at him. They switched and tried to contain him one-on-one, but none of it really worked. Tyrese Maxey’s speed, handle, and shooting ability make him one of the most difficult guards to defend in the Eastern Conference.

Plus, as he plays alongside players who can pick-and-pop, the defense has to pick their poison, and this turns pick-and-roll defense into a constant dilemma. It will be interesting to see how the coaching staff adapts the defensive scheme against Tyrese Maxey the next time the Celtics play the Sixers.

#3 – Al Horford shines again against the Sixers

Al Horford is, once again, shining among the stars. Against his former team and the 2023 MVP, Joël Embiid, he delivered a great overall performance. He provided the best defense possible, playing as if he were a DPOY against the former MVP.

Offensively, he gave his best by moving as fast as he could and making shots from his usual spots. With Porzingis and Holiday out, Horford becomes even more important as he remains the defensive anchor and must provide spacing on offense. And he did it again very well.

Overall, the Celtics looked their best when he was on the floor, with a +22 plus/minus in a loss. Nonetheless, he will need help from Porzingis and Jrue Holiday to continue shining against the Eastern Conference’s best players, like Joël Embiid or Giánnis Antetokounmpo.

#4 – Caleb Martin ignored by the Celtics and made them pay

With Jrue Holiday out, Al Horford took over in the starting five. The Celtics used the same scheme they employed before against Joël Embiid — the same scheme that helped them beat the Sixers in Game 6 and Game 7 of the 2023 Eastern Conference semifinals. Al Horford is Joël Embiid’s direct matchup, and Kristaps Porzingis becomes a roamer, a safety near the rim.

To do so, KP had to remain close to the basket and therefore ignored one of the Sixers’ players. Last night, the Celtics decided to leave Caleb Martin open, despite his previous shooting surge against them, including during the 2023 playoffs. And at first, he paid off.

However, after Porzingis’ injury, Caleb Martin turned into a vintage Ray Allen, making 7 out of 9 three-point attempts. This shooting anomaly is one of the reasons the Celtics lost and shows the cost of betting against variance. Most players in the NBA considered non-shooters can, sometimes, make the opponents pay for that bet.

The question is, how do you react to that? If you start overreacting, you might lose your defensive identity and worsen rim protection. If you don’t react, you might end up being seen as a team that cannot adapt. There will be other games like this — we’ll see how Joe Mazzulla and his coaching staff adjust.

#5 – Jayson Tatum high pick-and-roll with Luke Kornet

With Porzingis out of the game and Joël Embiid playing drop coverage against Kornet, as he is not a shooting threat, the Celtics had to find a way to generate open shots for Jayson Tatum and the rest of the team.

To do so, they asked Luke Kornet to set the screen as high as possible. This generates space for Jayson Tatum between the screener and his defensive matchup. With Jayson Tatum being comfortable with both pull-ups and drives, the high position of the screen gives him the upper hand against the defense.

Therefore, the Sixers wanted to get the ball out of his hands, and that’s where Luke Kornet’s short-roll ability came in handy. I think the Celtics might need to use Jayson Tatum more as a playmaker in the pick-and-roll. With so many different screeners on the team, each with different preferences and skills, this could create more chaos, especially with Jayson Tatum’s recent passing improvements.

#6 – Boston’s inability to protect the rim without Porzingis

Based on the numbers, last night was one of the worst rim protection performances by the Celtics in recent months. The Sixers made 82% of their attempts within 4 feet from the basket. This often happened when Porzingis was out.

The Sixers have three different scorers — Paul George, Tyrese Maxey, and Joël Embiid — who can exploit the cracks in the Celtics’ defensive shell. They are all capable of making a difference individually, and when Porzingis isn’t there to play safety, it opens the rim for the Sixers. The Celtics will need to be healthy in the playoffs if they meet the Sixers (who would also need to be healthy, obviously).

#7 – Jaylen Brown’s third quarter

After a slow start, Jaylen Brown took over in the third quarter, scoring 14 points while the Sixers only scored 16. Over 12 minutes, Jaylen Brown showed a new version of himself. As we noted in a previous article, Jaylen Brown’s post-up game has taken another leap this year.

Now, with this new weapon, he can better attack mismatches. In the action below, for example, Jaylen Brown uses a ball screen from Derrick White to get the switch and — instead of attacking Maxey head-on with a drive — he turns his back to establish a strong post-up position where the ball is better protected, and Maxey can’t resist JB’s power.

One small problem: despite overpowering his matchup, he only generated one free throw for ten shot attempts in the third quarter.

#8 – Shooting foul: 404 not found

I won’t get into the officiating of the game, as I’m not a referee and I’d rather avoid these types of conversations. Nonetheless, the numbers showed that the Celtics had a very difficult time getting to the line. They only had 13 free throws for 95 field goal attempts — the worst free-throw rate of the season for the Celtics.

The Sixers, with Embiid and Paul George, did a great job of protecting the rim behind their defensive front line. Maxey, who was again a target, didn’t get caught fouling when he was overpowered by the Celtics. These numbers show that the Sixers were well-disciplined — but also that the Celtics might have lacked aggression. Indeed, they shot over 40% from three, which leads me to think the issue stemmed from the inside game.

Of course, Porzingis being sidelined early in the game didn’t help — I’m sure he would have been able to draw some fouls thanks to his high post-up actions.

#9 – Payton Pritchard’s promising night

Looking at Payton Pritchard’s box score, you might feel frustrated or think he had a bad game. However, he showed great things on both ends of the floor. Defensively, he was able to hold up better than expected when targeted, and his hustle and rebounding remain crucial for the Celtics.

On the offensive side, he missed all of his three-point attempts but was able to deliver great passes for his teammates. The Celtics’ coaching staff is showing how much they trust him by running plays for him where he has to be the decision-maker and make the best choices.

#10 – Nick Nurse showed us what was going to happen

110 Sixers, 105 Celtics, 1 second on the clock, 1 minute remaining in the game. The Sixers have to inbound and shoot as quickly as possible to put the Celtics away.

Nick Nurse indicated the action the Sixers had to run; we all knew the ball would be passed to the elbow… yet the Celtics got caught, and Maxey delivered what Nick Nurse ordered.