Cross-matches bothered the Pacers over their final two regular season games with the Celtics. Sometimes, like when scrambled transition defense led to Al Horford casually stepping into a warm-up shot, the impact was obvious. But, in other ways, it was more subtle. With Aron Baynes, or whichever of the two bigs in play was less mobile or the lesser defender, guarding Thaddeus Young on one end of the floor and being guarded by Myles Turner on the other, Boston got the best of both worlds. They generated early offense, AND they muddled their opponent’s offense by being brave enough to take added steps away from Young.
Why Thaddeus Young could be key to unlocking Bojan Bogdanovic
