Several weeks ago we dove into the strategies the Celtics have implemented to minimize Kyrie Irving’s deficiencies in defending the pick-and-roll. The quick synopsis is thus: Boston successfully built an elite-level defense despite Irving’s known warts, thanks in large part to a series of beautifully executed switches.
Teams are beginning to take note of the Celtics’ schemes, and are finding interesting ways to exploit them. Today we’ll take a look at how the Dallas Mavericks leveraged their knowledge of Boston’s tendencies to create favorable matchups in isolation, specifically for Harrison Barnes.