Joe Mazzulla is sticking to his plan against the New York Knicks so far through two games in the Eastern Conference Semifinals. Unfortunately for Mazzulla and the Boston Celtics, this has resulted in the defending champions dropping each of the first two games of this series on their home floor.
The Celtics led by as many as 20 points in Game 1 before losing by three points in overtime. Once again, Boston held a 20-point lead on Wednesday night before New York stormed back in the fourth quarter to steal Game 2 with a 91-90 win.
Between their poor shot selection and dreadful shooting numbers from 3-point range, the Celtics have beaten themselves so far in this series. Although the Knicks have played well, Boston has lost these two games more than New York has won them.
Now that his team is down 2-0 in this series heading to Madison Square Garden for the next two games, many assume Mazzulla will make the necessary changes to get his team on track. One of those adjustments that has been critiqued involves intentionally fouling Mitchell Robinson in Game 2, directly resulting in the Knicks being put in the bonus early throughout the game.
However, Mazzulla made it clear in his postgame press conference that he had no problem with his strategy to foul Robinson because of how effective he was on the court.
“I mean, he was a +21 and he’s really effective for them,” Mazzulla said of Robinson’s Game 2 performance. “You know, that’s something We need to do a better job in those minutes. Be more effective when he’s on the floor.
The Celtics head coach stated that the intention behind fouling Robinson was to force the Knicks’ hand in taking the center off the floor due to his efficiency. Mazzulla pointed out how the Celtics need to do a better job on offense of attacking when Robinson is in the game, but he stood by his decision to intentionally foul the Knicks big man.
Robinson was fouled twice in the span of a second in the second quarter, resulting in the Celtics’ third and fourth team fouls in the period. New York was in the bonus for the rest of the quarter. Then in the fourth quarter, Boston fouled Robinson three straight times in roughly three seconds with 2:43 remaining in the game and the Celtics holding a four-point lead.
“That makes me feel like I’m a threat,” Robinson said after the Knicks’ Game 2 win. “I’m just saying, you trying to get me out the game, why y’all want me out the game?”
As a result, the Knicks were put in the bonus earlier than Boston would’ve liked that way he would be subbed out. The idea of hacking Robinson to send him to the free-throw line is not a terrible idea, as he went 13-of-19 (66.1 percent) from the charity stripe in the regular season. He is just 7-of-26 (26.9 percent) from the line in the playoffs.
The problem is that the Knicks utilized the Celtics’ thinking against them by getting into the bonus and immediately taking the big man out of the game.
Despite trailing 2-0 in the series after another collapse in Game 2, Mazzulla holds no regrets about his philosophy. Robinson has been one of the Knicks’ most efficient players against Boston, which is why Mazzulla is determined to continue getting him off the court when possible.
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