One of the Dallas Mavericks most dangerous weapons is their lob pass. During their run to the NBA Finals, they consistently found ways to carve open space to fire lob passes toward the rim and get easy points on the board. Part of that is the gravity Luka Doncic and Kyrie Irving possess. Teams often send two to the ball when trying to slow down Dallas’ elite guards, especially in the pick-and-roll.
Doncic is the master of the “late lob.” A lob pass that comes deeper into the shot clock and is often disguised as a shot attempt. Again, this usually comes when there’s more than one body defending him and a big has been able to venture into the paint while building momentum.
The Boston Celtics have nullified that weapon during the opening two games of the NBA Finals. Dallas has rarely found success when throwing the ball toward the rim. Jason Kidd’s team hasn’t suddenly forgotten how to set up one of their bread-and-butter offensive actions nor has Doncic suddenly become a terrible passer.
Instead, Joe Mazzulla’s Celtics team is defending in a way that makes the Mavericks lob game obsolete, and that’s by guarding 1-on-1, and playing physical with the screening big. For Boston, their defensive system hasn’t changed. They’ve been a team that guards straight up all season. They switch. They peel switch. They play up-to-touch, at the level or in drop.
But, the Celtics rarely double. They don’t have to, not with the amount of defensive talent on their roster. Derrick White and Jrue Holiday are arguably the best defensive backcourt in the NBA. Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown are two of the best two-way forwards in the league. And both Al Horford and Kristaps Porzingis defend at a high level in their own ways.
“They mostly play one-on-one,” Doncic said after Game 1. “They send a lot of help. So that’s why.”
