That was pretty.
During the homestand, the Celtics have been passing the ball more and working in a lot of off ball action to get shooters open and cutters free lanes to the rim. Off the opening tip, Brad Stevens drew up a beauty against the Timberwolves:
Marcus and Jaylen wasting no time pic.twitter.com/7H6IfBUkiW
— Boston Celtics (@celtics) April 9, 2021
With Boston emphasizing three point shooting of late, opposing defenses are playing up and trying to take away the arc. So what do they do?
A double screen from Jaylen Brown and Robert Williams has much of the Timberwolves defense ball watching around the free throw line. Kemba Walker sets a clever back screen on Brown’s defender, Josh Okogie, and Smart hits Brown on a back cut for an alley oop dunk.
After so much isolation ball to start the year, it’s been a refreshing sight to see so much ball and man movement over the few games. During their last 3-1 stretch, they’re sporting a 113.4 offensive rating.
Unfortunately, the Timberwolves lead 39-25 after the first quarter. The Celtics have only hit one of their first eight three-pointers.