Why the Celtics utilized delayed cuts against the Grizzlies

It seems like every game, we’re seeing a new wrinkle added to the Boston Celtics offense. You know, the offense that currently ranks 1st in the NBA and has Joe Mazzulla’s fingerprints all over it? Boston is adjusting their approach-based on their opponent’s tendencies while ensuring everybody on the court gets their chance to shine in their role.

Against the Memphis Grizzlies on Monday night, we saw delayed cuts become a focal point for the offense, as the Celtics looked to take advantage of Steven Adams’ absence and punish the defense whenever it collapsed to contain a drive.

The Grizzlies showed their hand early and often in this contest, as they looked to swarm on penetration, throwing bodies to whoever was looking to get their shot off around the cup.

You can get a good feel for how the Grizzlies wanted to take away the paint from this early possession in the first quarter, where Memphis sends three guys into the paint to constrict Brown’s movement and scoring ability. And from here, the chess battle began.

Usually, when we see this type of defense deployed by a team, offenses will counter by running more interior screening actions: flex (screens to allow entry from the corners), cross (screens in the paint to allow a cut), or wedge (diagonal screens set for a perimeter player to obtain post position). Or, they will incorporate more perimeter actions or early offense. Not the Celtics. Instead, they decided to go a different route, one which allowed far more fluidity for their attack and ensured their half-court offense didn’t become contingent on how the defense guarded a screen.

Above is the first example of how Boston decided to operate with a delayed cutter. Allowing the play to unfold, and for the defense to squeeze its boa-like constriction around the rim, before having a wing dive towards the bucket after the initial rotations have taken place, allowing ease of access to the hoop, and to receive the pass.

With Marcus Smart in the post, the Grizzlies turn their attention to flooding the paint, even turning their backs on the perimeter players at times. Once there are multiple players committed to taking away the space around Smart, Jayson Tatum dives on a 45-cut, unguarded, to collect the simplest of bounce passes, allowing the St. Louis native to collect the ball and finish a lay-up in one motion without too much resistance at the rim.

We can see a similar approach adopted in the above play, although the delay is slightly…