Grizzlies provided blueprint to neutralize Celtics offense

By leaving Holiday open, the Grizzlies funneled the Celtics offense into the hands of the veteran guard, trusting that he couldn't knock down enough shots to punish their dice roll. When speaking to the media after the game, Jaylen Brown admitted that other teams around the league may now try to replicate the Grizzlies approach. 

“Teams will probably try (the Grizzlies’ approach), and I hope so,” Brown said. “We’ve got full belief in Jrue. Tonight, maybe he didn’t shoot the ball as (well) as he’d like, but we’ve got full belief in Jrue and any of those guys, and we want to encourage it. So, yeah, we’ll be ready if teams do decide that.”

The biggest upside of the Celtics offense is that it forces you to make tough decisions. You can't send help defenders without leaving a good-to-great shooter open elsewhere on the court. Doing so in real-time, with multiple moving pieces, is what allows the Celtics to consistently generate high-quality shots. 

However, the Grizzlies took back control within that narrative. They predetermined what their tough choice would be: leaving Holiday open. As a result, they had an extra man, allowing them to load up on drives, send help to shooters, or have an extra body digging into the paint to apply pressure. 

If other teams follow Jenkins' blueprint, they might pinpoint a different player to leave open based on specific matchups. However, this could be something the Celtics must embrace and begin to adjust to. The only way to prove Memphis got lucky is to beat other rosters when they try to replicate the approach. 

Nevertheless, Memphis proved there are still some curveballs that can rattle the reigning champions. It will be interesting to see how Boston navigates a potential new plan that's been designed to remove one of the biggest weapons within its motion offense.