Searching for a boost and trailing by 18 points in the fourth quarter of the opening game of the regular season against Detroit, Hawks Head Coach Mike Budenholzer went to a surprising lineup. He subbed in 6-foot-8 Paul Millsap at center alongside 6-foot-8 Mike Scott for a super-smallball front court.
The Hawks didn’t win that game, but they did shave the deficit down to seven points with an extreme version of their pace-and-space style. Budenholzer said Wednesday that the origins of that lineup can be traced back even beyond this season.
“It really goes back to our first year when Al played the first 25 or 30 games and then wasn’t available,” Budenholzer said. “I’m pretty certain during that first year we used it, and we’ve used it every year since. It’s something that we used sporadically, but we’ll definitely put it out there.”
In this series, that duo has been highly effective together: lineups with the Scott-Millsap pairing have outscored the Celtics by 38 points in 44 total minutes.
“Their bigs are more perimeter-oriented and spaced,” Budenholzer said of the Celtics while also noting that Boston uses a lot of dribble handoffs. “I think he and Paul defensively can be good for us, and offensively, they both create space.”
Injury Update
Boston guard Isaiah Thomas had to leave the game during the fourth quarter of Game 5 with a sprained left ankle, but Boston Head Coach Brad Stevens said Wednesday that he expects Thomas to play.
“The swelling looks down and he feels good. All signs point to him being ready tomorrow,” Stevens said.
Celtics guard Avery Bradley has also missed most of this series with a hamstring injury, but Stevens doesn’t expect him to play in Games 6 or 7.
“It would be extremely unlikely that he would be able to suit up in this series,” Stevens said.
Lots of Assistance
The Hawks’ bench has 32 assists in the series, and exactly half of those assists came in Game 5.
Part of the high assist total was accurate passing, and part of it was that the Hawks had their best shooting game of the series. Thabo Sefolosha led the bench with 6 assists. If Sefolosha and his bench cohort continue to make sharp passes with few turnovers (the Hawks had just 12 turnovers in Game 5), then that effort will go a long way toward ending the series before a decisive Game 7. The Celtics thrive off turnovers as a means for jump-starting their fast-break game, and if the Hawks make baskets then they will have the perfect antidote to that recipe.
Tweaks on tweaks on tweaks
In Millsap and Al Horford, the Hawks have two of the quickest and most skilled defenders in the NBA.
To slow Thomas in the first half of Game 5, the Hawks used a trapping scheme on the Celtics’ point guard. When Thomas would make a play in a pick-and-roll, the Hawks sent both defenders – including a big man – at Thomas. The tactic worked to a point: the Celtics were forced to have other players make plays for them, and Thomas had 0 points and just four shot attempts in the first half.
Boston adjusted quickly in the second half. Evan Turner functioned as the point guard on more plays, enabling Thomas to work without the ball. And when Thomas did have the ball, small forward Jae Crowder set most of the picks for him, so that Millsap and Horford weren’t close enough to the play to jump out and trap Thomas.
Expect more fun and interesting chess moves from Budenholzer and Stevens in Game 6.
Story by KL ChouinardTwitter: @KLChouinard