{"id":85908,"date":"2024-02-02T19:00:00","date_gmt":"2024-02-02T19:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.celticsblog.com\/2024\/2\/2\/24058463\/target-practice-boston-celtics-mismatch-austin-reaves-los-angeles-lakers-derrick-white-jrue-holiday"},"modified":"2024-02-02T19:00:00","modified_gmt":"2024-02-02T19:00:00","slug":"target-practice-celtics-take-advantage-of-mismatches-against-lakers-austin-reaves","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/gamefootballmobileanimeiphone.com\/index.php\/2024\/02\/02\/target-practice-celtics-take-advantage-of-mismatches-against-lakers-austin-reaves\/","title":{"rendered":"Target practice: Celtics take advantage of mismatches against Lakers\u2019 Austin Reaves"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n
\n \"Los
Photo by Brian Fluharty\/Getty Images<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The Lakers guard is the weakest link in LA\u2019s defense.<\/p>\n

Thursday night\u2019s loss to the shorthanded Lakers wasn\u2019t the outcome the Celtics wanted, but as head coach Joe Mazzulla has stressed all year, sometimes, it\u2019s process over results.<\/p>\n

To wit, in an interview with The Athletic\u2019s Jay King, Jaylen Brown stressed the importance of not just being the most talented team, but the smartest, too. That\u2019s meant a more \u201cdeliberate\u201d focus on the offensive end and forcing and taking advantage of mismatches.<\/p>\n

\n

\u201cAttention to detail,\u201d Brown said<\/a>. \u201cIt\u2019s the smallest details. If a big is up or if a big is back. If they\u2019re switching or if they\u2019re staying, maintaining. Just reading the different coverages on the fly and making the right read versus the right coverage.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

Mazzulla followed up by saying that t Austin Reaves. Reaves is a scrappy player. He finds ways to get to the line on offense and uses his wiry 6\u20195 frame as best he can on D, but he\u2019s a below average defender. In a playoff series, he\u2019ll get targeted and picked on by the best teams and that\u2019s what Boston did for most of the night.<\/p>\n

Per Second Spectrum tracking, offensive players shoot 6% better against Reaves on two-point shots. Of all the Lakers perimeter defenders, he is attacked the most. By comparison, here are the Celtics\u2019 top-6 under the same microscope:<\/p>\n

\n
<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

All are plus-defenders inside the three-point line and nobody is really singled-out. <\/p>\n

\n
\n