Coach Joe Mazzulla’s Deliberate Use Of Hawks Like A Practice Game Proves Costly, Courtesy of Dejounte Murray

Tonight, Dejounte Murray & Co sent a pressing message to the NBA world. Trae Young-less Atlanta Hawks won back-to-back games against the top-seeding Boston Celtics ahead of the post-season. Murray came out on top on both occasions and he not only anchored the Hawks’ offense but also spoiled Celtics’ HC Joe Mazzula’s master plan.

During the post-game press conference, Mazzulla opened up about his failed plan to stop Murray with his big man, Kristaps Porzingis. He revealed that the team deliberately let Porzingis guard Murray on the switches despite the risk of buckets. He also added, “We went with that on purpose. We have the opportunity to practice stuff.”

As the Celtics have already registered their spot in the playoff, Mazzulla has positioned the Celts to use the remaining games to practice scenarios, reported Marc D’Amico. However, tonight’s plan didn’t go in his favor as Dejounte Murray played spoilsport.

Despite the failure of the plan, Joe Mazzula considered that it was good practice reps as the Celtics haven’t done much of 1-through-5 switching. Murray took a total of 44 shots tonight and made 44 points. Clearly, the Porzingis plan didn’t work well for the Celts.

Mazzula has always stood out of the lot, coaching an NBA team. In the initial phase of the season, he turned the attention towards the Celtics when he took a coach’s review during garbage minutes. The Boston side has 9 more games left in the regular season. The question is, will Mazzula try out new experiments or look to enter the postseason with great momentum?

Can Kristaps Porziņģis guard effectively in clutch? 

Hawks’ guard Dejounte Murray turned up his cylinders tonight to throw clutch buckets. At a given point, it would be ideal to allot a Celtics guard to defend him rather than a big man. The Celts’ center Kristaps Porzingis guarded Murray instead of the Hawks’ 6′ 10 Clint Capela. Notably, in the past, Porzingis has proved to be a better defender in the clutch.

If Mazulla’s plan worked, the Celtics have 3 to 4 players who could guard 1 to 4 positions and in turn could have strangled the Hawks’ buckets. Nevertheless, it didn’t go as intended. Moreover, during the Hawks’ game-winning possession, Jrue Holiday guarded Murray as Porzingis was off the court.

Despite the planning and defense switches, it turned out to be Murray’s night. The star would have dropped the game-winner regardless of the defensive prowess of the player guarding him. What do you make of Joe Mazzula’s experiments ahead of the postseason? Let us know in the comments.

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