In the press conference before the game, Kenny Atkinson said he expected Darius Garland to be hunted, as the Celtics are known for creating mismatches. However, the Celtics didn’t hunt Darius Garland. Instead, they went after one of the best defensive players in the NBA, Evan Mobley.
On the first play, the Celtics forced a switch and created a one-on-one situation for Jaylen Brown against Evan Mobley. The young big man’s length could bother a drive, but he struggles when it comes to contesting pull-up threes.
At first, I thought it was just random—but the Celtics kept going at Evan Mobley.