The Boston Celtics have improved across the board since the turn of the calendar year. Their defense is sharper, they’re fluid on offense and showing exceptional patience to find the right shot, and the pace of play has seen a notable increase. But there has been another not-so-subtle improvement in Boston’s game plan, one which has solved an 18-month long puzzle: breaking down zone defenses.
What started as a perplexing aberration in the bubble against the Miami Heat quickly developed into an Achilles heel for the Celtics, and every time a team switched to zone defense, fans worldwide sat and cringed. But, under head coach Ime Udoka, the Celtics have figured out what they want to do to exploit such coverages, and now, teams have nowhere to hide.
Take a look at how the Celtics attacked the Heat’s inverted 2-3 zone during the 2020 Eastern Conference Finals. The reason the zone is classed as inverted is that Miami used their wings to guard the perimeter, and hid their…
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