Celtics’ deliberate strategy helped complete late rally against Pistons

Tight games were hard to come by Joe Mazzulla And Celtics After putting together one of the most dominant regular seasons in franchise history for most of last season. That trend continued before Saturday night, when Jayson Tatum didn’t have to play a single minute in the first quarter in Boston’s first two blowout wins.

The tide turned quickly in Detroit on Saturday night, as the gung-ho Pistons fought back from a 22-point deficit and dominated much of the second half. The Pistons took a 112-106 lead with five minutes left in the game, but the Celtics went on an 18-6 run. Get off to a 3-0 start to the year with a 124-118 win.

There were plenty of heroes for Boston this time. Jrue Holiday hit a pair of clutch 3s to erase the Pistons’ lead. Jayson Tatum’s late shots helped Boston regain the lead. Derrick White made a clutch block on Cade Cunningham in the final two minutes, while Jaylen Brown had several key defensive rebounds against the Pistons’ bigger players in the final minute of regulation.

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One of the most interesting developments later in the victory, though, was Joe Mazzulla’s strategy in the closing seconds of regulation. Boston took a 121-118 lead with 17 seconds left after Derrick White made a pair of free throws.

At this point Mazzulla had a decision to make. There’s no debate about whether fouling on three was the right call in close games in the closing seconds. But having 17 seconds left on the clock makes the choice a little murkier because that’s a lot longer to gamble on the free throw game. Some coaches prefer to defend directly with all this time remaining.

But Mazzulla quickly abandoned that choice, and the Celtics executed the foul-drawing strategy perfectly thanks to a few key factors.

1. Pistons have no timeouts left

It was easy to miss this in real time, but it was a huge advantage for Boston in that moment. It’s one thing to foul out when a team has the ability to set up the play and cross half court. The Pistons had no such luxury, forcing them to go full court without any guidance on the remaining possession. Mazzulla knew this, probably making the choice to foul with time remaining that much easier.

2. The Celtics had a veteran player to execute the plan

The Celtics knew they were going to foul, but Holiday hesitated when Cade Cunningham brought the ball up the court. He let five seconds pass and when Cunningham crossed half court, he made his move and collided with Cunningham. The referee initially did not call a foul, but Holiday looked at him after the contact and made his intentions known. The referee relented and sent Cunningham to the line with 11.1 seconds left on the clock.

Cunningham missed the second free throw (it’s unclear if that was intentional) and Brown provided a hard board to Isaiah Stewart. After being fouled, the All-Star made two free throws and secured Boston’s victory.

In the bigger picture, it was a small scene on a night in October that most people would forget a few days from now. But the strategy and execution here shows how well the Celtics are in sync heading into the year. Boston struggled with clutch time situations during last year’s regular season, but those concerns eased significantly during the playoffs.

That trend continued on Saturday night as Mazzulla pressed the right buttons late on and deployed the right men to help the visitors stay unbeaten and top of the Eastern Conference.