Can Playoff Smart Shutdown Harden?

[SHAQATTACK]

You shut down Harden but you have Durant and Irving to worry about. And guys like Joe Harris, Blake Griffin, and Jeff Green who tends to play extraordinary well against us.

This is the series where we need Jaylen Brown, and we don't have him.

Your words have iron in them .

[PAOBoston]

Wont matter cause Kyrie and KD is going to average 45 pts a game this series.

[Celtics2021]

Wont matter cause Kyrie and KD is going to average 45 pts a game this series.

It’s been four years since Kyrie played playoff basketball.  His performance is not a given.

[PAOBoston]

Wont matter cause Kyrie and KD is going to average 45 pts a game this series.

It’s been four years since Kyrie played playoff basketball.  His performance is not a given.

Have you watched Kyrie play against the Cs? Historically, he obliterates them.

[Moranis]

I think Brooklyn will win, but it will be in 6 or 7 and it will be a close series.  Boston matches up well with Brooklyn.  They aren't as talented, but the match-ups work well for us.  Tatum on Durant.  Smart on Harden.  Only leaves Irving, but Irving is by far the least consistent of the Nets big 3.  He is prone to go into cold spells.  Hopefully Walker can annoy him enough to get in his head and Walker can out perform him on the other end.  And that is frankly the key to the series, the Nets quite simply are a bad defensive team.  If you make them work defensively, you can limit their offensive effectiveness and you can stay in the game.  Boston has to play at a slower pace and keep the pace down, but I think they can win close games.  Just make them work on both ends and you can wear them down, especially with their lack of playing together, conditioning, etc. Shame we won't have Brown as he could have made a real difference, but even still I do think Boston will surprise some people, including the Nets, in this series.

[slamtheking]

I think Brooklyn will win, but it will be in 6 or 7 and it will be a close series.  Boston matches up well with Brooklyn.  They aren't as talented, but the match-ups work well for us.  Tatum on Durant.  Smart on Harden.  Only leaves Irving, but Irving is by far the least consistent of the Nets big 3.  He is prone to go into cold spells.  Hopefully Walker can annoy him enough to get in his head and Walker can out perform him on the other end.  And that is frankly the key to the series, the Nets quite simply are a bad defensive team.  If you make them work defensively, you can limit their offensive effectiveness and you can stay in the game.  Boston has to play at a slower pace and keep the pace down, but I think they can win close games.  Just make them work on both ends and you can wear them down, especially with their lack of playing together, conditioning, etc. Shame we won't have Brown as he could have made a real difference, but even still I do think Boston will surprise some people, including the Nets, in this series.

these would seem to be contradictory statements.

slowing the game down makes it easier on their defense.  we'd be better off pushing the pace with our youth and getting more easy fast break baskets than watching the C's go into iso mode, brick 3's and give up long rebounds that result in Nets' fast break layups. 

What I've notice really hurts the C's on that transition D is Brad's insistence on putting 2 guys in the corners that cannot get back in time on D from a missed 3 that results in a long rebound.   They're not in the rebounding action to get an offensive board nor are in a position to impede an outlet pass either.  that plays a big part in why this team gets scorched on missed iso shots/3's.

[Phantom255x]

Even in some tough times I've defended Smart and still do.

But if he really wants to show us he's "up there" as the 3rd or 4th best guy on the team, this is his chance to prove it. We're going to need him especially with Brown out on the defensive end. Lets see how he does. We really can't afford a mediocre Smart though in this series. We also can't afford "dumb" Marcus Smart who jacks up like 20+ shots (many of low-quality) but only hits like 5 of them. Of course it'd be nice if he could score but I'd much rather a Smart playing great defense, hustling and giving us 10-14 PPG this series.

[tstorey_97]

All the big three talk aside. I think our biggest issue is the bench.

Stevens will leave Tatum/Walker/Fournier/Smart/Thompson in for the whole game as he doesn't have a choice.

Brown/Robert are out so the bench is too thin. Crash/Semi/Kornet/Grant/Pritchard get minutes, but not many.

I think Smart makes Harden miserable as he usually has.

My thought is underdogs can create miracles, but our bench would need to be lights out against a very tough Nets bench.

Every time they make it close the Nets will feel it. Look at how Waters lit up the Knicks in the 4th quarter...the Celtics will have a number of shots to put the choke on the Nets. Smart will steal a pass and bomb it to crash for an end to end jam with 12 seconds left to go ahead by one while Harden cries for a foul that he's not gonna get....

...that's what I'm looking forward to.

[Moranis]

I think Brooklyn will win, but it will be in 6 or 7 and it will be a close series.  Boston matches up well with Brooklyn.  They aren't as talented, but the match-ups work well for us.  Tatum on Durant.  Smart on Harden.  Only leaves Irving, but Irving is by far the least consistent of the Nets big 3.  He is prone to go into cold spells.  Hopefully Walker can annoy him enough to get in his head and Walker can out perform him on the other end.  And that is frankly the key to the series, the Nets quite simply are a bad defensive team.  If you make them work defensively, you can limit their offensive effectiveness and you can stay in the game.  Boston has to play at a slower pace and keep the pace down, but I think they can win close games.  Just make them work on both ends and you can wear them down, especially with their lack of playing together, conditioning, etc. Shame we won't have Brown as he could have made a real difference, but even still I do think Boston will surprise some people, including the Nets, in this series.

these would seem to be contradictory statements.

slowing the game down makes it easier on their defense.  we'd be better off pushing the pace with our youth and getting more easy fast break baskets than watching the C's go into iso mode, brick 3's and give up long rebounds that result in Nets' fast break layups. 

What I've notice really hurts the C's on that transition D is Brad's insistence on putting 2 guys in the corners that cannot get back in time on D from a missed 3 that results in a long rebound.   They're not in the rebounding action to get an offensive board nor are in a position to impede an outlet pass either.  that plays a big part in why this team gets scorched on missed iso shots/3's.

Nope.  You use up the shot clock, but you can still move around a lot.  You can get physical with them.  You have a 1 on 1 with Tatum being guarded by Durant, you go at Durant.  Or Harden.  Or Irving.  You target them as defenders.  They are at their best when they aren't challenged on both ends, challenge them.  On the other end of the floor, you get in their face.  You set hard screens.  You foul them when it makes sense to and make those fouls count.  You basically play 1980's style basketball but with the 3 point shot.

[LilRip]

The best weapon the C’s have against Harden is his choking tendencies. Unfortunately, that might happen in the 2nd round, not the first. I think Harden is the least of our worries in the Nets big 3 though. I don’t know who can guard Kyrie.

[Moranis]

The best weapon the C’s have against Harden is his choking tendencies. Unfortunately, that might happen in the 2nd round, not the first. I think Harden is the least of our worries in the Nets big 3 though. I don’t know who can guard Kyrie.

I honestly think you might see Smart on Irving with Fournier on Harden and Tatum on Durant, with Walker on Harris.  That seemingly makes the most sense and I do think Smart would frustrate the heck out of Irving.

[Celtics4ever]

It depends which Marcus shows up Moranis.   His D has not been what is has in the past.  I hope you're right.

[colincb]

Smart can contain Harden as well as anyone and maybe shutdown him for a game, but if we're talking about a series, the answer is a resounding no.

[gouki88]

Times like these where I wish we had someone like TJ McConnell to full-court harass Kyrie. Always found Kyrie struggled against him in Philly in terms of scoring efficiently.