Heat’s 2-3 zone is defining East finals so far, so we asked Jim Boeheim to break it down
Jim Boeheim is the very definition of a basketball junkie. If there’s some level of competitive basketball on his television, the Syracuse Orange coach is going to watch it, so of course he has been glued to his TV for the Eastern Conference finals between the Miami Heat and Boston Celtics, and he has been pleasantly surprised to see some basketball that actually looks a bit like he coaches in New York.
The Heat has a 2-1 series lead on the Celtics in Lake Buena Vista and a relatively unorthodox NBA tactic has been a key factor in determining the winner of all three games. Miami baffled Boston with a 2-3 zone to win the first two games of the series, and the Celtics finally cracked it Saturday to take Game 3 117-106.
“Theirs is good,” Boeheim told the Miami Herald on Friday. “I thought they did a lot of good things.”
Consider it high praise from one of college basketball’s most famous curmudgeons. Boeheim, the world’s foremost expert in the 2-3 zone, really was impressed by the work the Heat did in the zone in Game 2 to take a two-game lead Thursday.
In Game 2, Miami played 32 possessions of zone defense, holding Boston to 25 points, five field goals and five turnovers to spark a 17-point comeback. In the first two games of the East finals, the Celtics scored just 41 points in 48 total possessions against the Heat’s zone.
Boston, though, finally figured out how to beat it in Game 3, shooting 59 percent against the zone after shooting just 30 percent in the first two games. With wing Gordon Hayward back from injury and operating out of the high post, the Celtics’ average shot distance was nearly seven feet closer to the basket in Game 3.
“They did a good job of just getting a body in the middle of the paint and just passing the ball well,” forward Jae Crowder said, “but I think we can do a lot of things differently, a lot of things better, at a higher level.”
With three days off before Game 4 on Wednesday at Walt Disney World’s ESPN Wide World of Sports Complex, both teams will have plenty of time to adjust again. Refining the zone will be critical for Miami after the Heat used it so effectively to slow down All-Star point guard Kemba Walker in the first two games.
Miami isn’t the first team to deploy a zone defense in the NBA playoffs — the Dallas Mavericks actually played quite a bit of zone in the 2011 NBA Finals to upset the Heat — but Miami runs it with enough confidence to make it more than just a gimmick.
“It was really good. I thought their movement was good,” Boeheim said. “A lot of times, pro teams will throw a zone out there, but they really just kind of stand there. It looks like they don’t ever practice, but Miami’s is so good.”
For the most part, the Heat just runs it like a team that practiced it a lot because it did in the regular season.
The zone allows Miami to cover up some of the defensive deficiencies of players such as like Kendrick Nunn, Goran Dragic, Tyler Herro and Duncan Robinson, and actually counters most of what NBA offenses are currently predicated on. It’s hard to run pick and roll against the zone, and hard to hunt mismatches because screens can’t force switches when defenders are responsible for an area rather than a man.
Boeheim was particularly impressed by the Heat’s bump ups and bump downs — the wings do a good job of moving up to defend a guard’s vacated space until their teammate recovers, when they can then retreat, and vice versa.
On Thursday, Dragic summed up why Miami is so good at running it.
“I feel like we’ve mastered that zone,” the guard said. “We know that when you zone, you need to run more and we communicate well, we shrink the floor and try to make it tough on them. Basically, they’re not running their stuff. It’s more iso [isolation] and passing.”
Boeheim, who has run a 2-3 zone almost exclusively since 1996, pointed out the same sorts of things.
“One of the reasons that we started playing a lot of zone is playing against a team that really runs a lot of good man-to-man stuff, it takes away the things they really like to do,” he said. “You’ve got to almost work harder in zone than man because if one guy breaks down, they’re going to get a good shot.”
Miami’s most notable wrinkle is putting forwards at the top, in spots usually occupied by guards. Crowder and All-Star wing Jimmy Butler closed Game 2 at the top, while Herro and Robinson manned the wings.
Boeheim recruits players specifically with the zone in mind, which means an emphasis on tall, lanky guards. The Heat, instead, hides its guards in the corners, while letting the length of Butler and Crowder disrupt Walker.
“You put your bigger guys up there against a guy like Kemba, he’s going to have some trouble getting shots off,” Boeheim said. “They just covered more ground. Movement was better. Any defense is better when you have good personnel. Jimmy Butler’s good in any defense and Crowder is, too.”
There are reasons, though, why no one has ever tried to run zone full-time in the NBA. Defensive three-second violations make it impossible to just plant a rim-protecting center in the paint like college coaches can, and NBA players are simply better shooters than college players.
NBA teams also have less practice time than their college counterparts, which means less time to perfect a zone and less time to prepare for one. The Heat clearly caught Boston off guard and the Celtics adjusted. Even Boeheim knew it was coming.
“Hopefully, it’ll work for them,” Boeheim said. “I’m sure Boston will make adjustments.”
This story was originally published September 21, 2020 at 4:52 PM.
