Did Tatum guard Porzingis a lot? Or was that Smart?
Smart gave Porzingis nightmares. He was on him like white on rice to the point where when Porzingis turned his head to look for a pass, he accidentally hit Smart in the face.
Actually, Marcus mostly covered Doncic and Jaylen mostly covered Porzingis, at least before they chased him off the floor. Marcus did switch onto Porzingis a few times.
I thought this was the most interesting element of the game. Both Jaylen and Marcus were able to completely dominate Porzingis. Given his size, this was startling.
Will anyone in the league make the C's pay for using a pair of guards this way, without any real second big on the floor? I've yet to see anyone so far.
Size doesn't matter if you don't know how to use it. There are few true back-to-basket players that can dominate you with size. Most are skilled perimeter players.
Even guys like Embiid (who does make you pay for going small) would rather try to attack closeouts and shoot mid-range shots than truly post up and use their size.
Honestly, Enes Kanter might be one of about 5 guys in the NBA that can really make you pay for going small. KAT? Gobert (mainly because of the lob not the postup)? Jokic? Vucevic? Drummond? Embiid?
There are others who can score inside, but none who can do so in a way that makes you change your defense significantly. None that break your defense. Some that may have good games, but none that have games that give you the automatic W.
The game of basketball is at least partially about making the other team try to attack you in ways they are uncomfortable. Most teams today are not comfortable attacking inside. Therefore, CBS says, "We dare you to try to try to throw it to Love in the post against Smart. Go ahead. Beat us trying to do that."