Sunday’s matchup with the Brooklyn Nets saw Jayson Tatum outduel Brooklyn’s top star in Kevin Durant. The back-and-forth nature of the game was reminiscent of a postseason duel, with lead changes galore and excitement at every junction.
While it was Tatum’s success that proved to push the C’s over the top, the matinee also revealed one slight challenge for a ‘switch everything’ defense come playoff time: how to stop an opposing star such as Durant.
Frequently after a good game, we’ll see tweets such as this, which highlight the individual defensive performances of Celtics players who are incredibly strong on that end:
Derrick White matched up with Patty Mills on 10 possessions and gave up 0 points
He matched up with Kyrie Irving on 6 possessions and gave up 0 points— Dan Greenberg (@StoolGreenie) March 7, 2022Let’s push the validity of individual defensive stats to the side for a moment.