The current playoff defense reminds me of the Patriots 2000-2001 defense where they would give up yards here and there and some FG's, but never really break and allow those TD's.
True, our offense in late game situations can be handled a lot better, but our defense has been pretty spot on for most of the 48 minutes of each game.
Kenny Smith was talking on Inside the NBA Monday night & he mentioned the C's defensive philosophy for defending the Magic in Game 1: "We were going to shut down the perimeter 3's & shut down the inside game".
Well we did that in Game 1.
In Game 2, Howard blew up for 30 points & made a lot of FT's too. The Magic also shot 39% from 3 point land.
But a key stat for the Magic's 3's are the attempts.
Doc Rivers was talking about the 3PT FGA to his team in Game 1, about how we had limited the Magic to 2 attempts from the arc in the 1st Quarter, but started giving them more looks in Q2 & Q3.
The Magic attempted LESS 3 pointers in Game 2, only 18 attempts.
The Magic regular attempt about 30 per game from the arc. (Actually 27 or 28 attempts).
I've concluded that I don't see how we can lose a game in this series if we continue to play as hard as we have been these last 2 games.
Only way for us to lose if we change our game plan on the defensive end and start to double Howard. That would increase the frequency of 3 point opportunities for the Magic.
I mean, can you accept winning when Howard goes for 30 and their team still shoots 39% from the 3 point arc?
I can. We just have to keep limiting their opportunities.
Keep doing what we're doing and we can win even bigger, on both sides of the ball.
