Great win without our best player. I don't really count that 4th quarter mess. Mazz was clearly trying out "new" things with an all bench unit for prolonged periods of time. Struggles were not unexpected.
That was actually the bench unit that Tatum usually anchors, it's done really well. Except this time Tatum wasn't there so the defense didn't have anyone to load up on and they ended up getting too static offensively and too passive defensively. Tatum and Brogdon are usually the 2 playmakers in that lineup and with Tatum out Pritchard had to be the 2nd playmaker but he's usually used as a shooter in that lineup, so there was a struggle with ball movement. I'm sure Joe was hoping to not have to bring the starters back in but it's a learning experience for them at least
This is that 2nd unit that Joe was hoping would end the game, normally Tatum is there with Brogdon and they have a net rating of 25...but without Tatum Jackson then Pritchard had to play that 2nd playmaker role and he's normally used more as a shooter in the lineups that he's in, so they got very static, not a lot of off ball movement until White came back in and then Jaylen which then forced some double teams to leave people open.
Curiously, looking at that data, the "death lineup" with Brogdon in instead of White with the starters is a -14.
Topic: Wizards (10-9) at Celtics (15-4) Game #20 11/27/22 (Read 12944 times)