Boston Celtics Should Borrow This Trick From The Detroit Pistons

DETROIT, MICHIGAN – APRIL 24: Paul Reed #7 of the Detroit Pistons battles against Mitchell Robinson ... More #23 and Karl-Anthony Towns #32 of the New York Knicks during the first quarter in Game Three of the Eastern Conference First Round NBA Playoffs at Little Caesars Arena on April 24, 2025 in Detroit, Michigan. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and or using this photograph, User is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. (Photo by Gregory Shamus/Getty Images) The NBA is a lot of things. It is entertaining and competitive, but it is also shameless. It is shameless because all across the league coaches study other coaches, desperately hoping to discover (or be reminded of) a tactic that they emulate and leverage for their own team’s personal gain. This is a more poetic way of saying that the NBA is a copycat league. On Thursday, the Detroit Pistons’ 2024-25 NBA Season ended valiantly, falling to the higher-seeded New York Knicks 116-113 to conclude one of the most closely-contested series in league history. But akin to how when falling autumn leaves die and their remnants provide nutrients to the soil around them, the Pistons’ defeat provides the Boston Celtics with an ace up their sleeve for their Eastern Conference Semifinals series against the Knicks. Hack-A-Mitch Midway through the third quarter in Game 6, Jalen Duren picked up his fourth foul, which forced head coach J.B. Bickerstaff to substitute him for Paul Reed. Knicks head coach Tom Thibodeau capitalized on this opportunity by bringing in Mitchell Robinson for Karl-Anthony Towns. His theory was that, with the smaller Reed out there (6’9), it would open up more opportunities for Robinson to crash the offensive glass (99th percentile offensive rebound rate). Instead of merely conceding defeat, Bickerstaff countered Thibodeau’s counter by dusting off a popular strategy from the mid-2000s: intentionally fouling the poor free throw shooting big man to get him off the floor. The irony of him doing this with Ben Wallace in attendance shouldn’t go unnoticed. Bickerstaff instructed Reed to take two fouls on Robinson to dare the career 52.2% free throw shooter to live up to his average (1.04 PPP in the halfcourt is actually pretty good offense). Robinson responded by making just 1-of-4 attempts (0.50 PPP), prompting Thibodeau to wave the white flag and send the second-chance machine back to the bench. As an aside, curiously enough, Robinson came back in the game for three minutes early in the fourth quarter, and Bickerstaff did not intentionally foul him (likely because Duren was guarding him and already in foul trouble). However, it ended up working out for the Pistons anyway, as they went on an 11-2 run during that stretch. Why Would The Celtics Need To Do This? For the second straight year, the Knicks have a top seven offense in the NBA. The way they are doing it has changed, though. After being the poster child for crashing the offensive glass (1st in offensive rebound rate in 2023-24), they are now hovering right above average (12th in 2024-25). This is the side effect of swapping Isaiah Hartenstein for Karl-Anthony Towns at center. But the Knicks can still channel this tenacious style in spurts with Robinson. According to Cleaning the Glass, New York is in the 98th percentile in offensive rebounding rate when Robinson is on the floor. The Celtics can take away this pitch if they hack Robinson, and he can’t convert on his free throws at a respectable clip. Successfully executing the Hack-a-Mitchell also preys on New York’s biggest weakness: depth. Against the Pistons, the Knicks only played seven players an average of 10 minutes or more per game. Robinson was one of those players, and if he becomes unplayable, that forces Thibodeau into a serious bind. Maybe Thibodeau could dust Precious Achiuwa off the shelf (who did not play a single second in the first round). Achiuwa is a better free throw shooter than Robinson (career 60.6%), but he’s not the physical presence (6’8) the seven-footer is either. To be fair, with or without this strategy, the Celtics are massive favorites in this series (Opta Analyst gives them a 78.1% of advancing). Still, given how maniacal about the game head coach Joe Mazzulla is, he will likely appreciate and borrow this strategy from the Pistons. Source: https://www.forbes.com/sites/matissa/2025/05/02/boston-celtics-should-borrow-this-trick-from-the-detroit-pistons/