There’s an old adage in the coaching profession that teams “cannot play small and slow.”
In Friday night’s showdown with NBA-best Golden State Warriors, the Boston Celtics were certainly on the smaller end. Al Horford, Grant Williams, Jabari Parker, Juancho Hernangomez and Sam Hauser were all placed in COVID protocols and unavailable to play. As the Celtics started Romeo Langford in place of Horford, everyone knew the C’s would attempt to pick up the pace a bit.
The only trouble: their opponent is the master of small and speed. Stephen Curry, Draymond Green and Andrew Wiggins were able to turn up the pace early and prove that the C’s, even with a downsized lineup, were not ready for the challenge.