Simone's Six: Jaylen Brown's reads, Baylor Scheierman's hustle, and awesome defense in Celtics-Cavaliers

Since adding James Harden at the trade deadline, the Cleveland Cavaliers have been one of the hottest teams in basketball. But that didn’t matter for the Boston Celtics.

They walked into Rocket Arena, went up big in the second quarter, and fended off every single run the Cavs made in the second half.

But how did they do it?

1. Jaylen Brown was dominant

Right when the Celtics’ offense went cold, Jaylen Brownwas there to heat them back up. He made timely plays all night long, closing every door the Cavaliers tried to open.

With just over nine minutes to go in the fourth quarter, the Cavaliers cut what was once a 21-point Celtics lead down to 12. They were on the brink of a comeback. So, Brown put a stop to it.

First, it was an iso bucket over Dean Wade.

Then, Keon Ellistried to get in front of him.

So, the Cavaliers had to start sending extra bodies his way.

Brown could have forced the issue. He could have pulled up over two players and trusted his own shot. But he didn’t. Instead, he turned into a playmaker.

When he tried to drive past Jaylon Tyson later in the quarter, Thomas Bryant helped over, and Ellis sank in from the perimeter, too. Cleveland had three guys marking Brown.

He threw a simple pass out to Sam Hauserat the top of the key, who nailed the three.

Then, in the pick-and-roll with Luka Garza, Evan Mobleystepped up to apply pressure to Brown. So, Brown made the easy dump-off pass to Garza, who made the floater.

Time and time again, Brown made the right play. There were very few bells and whistles to his game on Sunday afternoon. He just played smart basketball.

His best highlight was a pass. Late in the game, with Cleveland trying to make yet another comeback, he threw a baseline, cross-court, bounce pass to a waiting Baylor Scheiermanin the opposite corner.

Scheierman nailed the three in front of the Cavs’ bench, where Max Struswas talking trash (before being silenced).

2. Payton Pritchard’s calming presence

Speaking of responses, the Celtics could have been in for a world of pain if it weren’t for Payton Pritchard’s calming presence in the fourth quarter.

With 5:01 to play, Donovan Mitchellnailed a floater to bring the Cavs within eight points. Pritchard responded with two straight iso buckets in the mid-range.

The first was a spinning, turnaround middy over Tyson, who he put on skates.

On the second, he got Harden switched onto him and went to work. He crossed over, pulled up, and drained a triple in Harden’s face, letting out a ‘Let’s Go’ scream while running back on defense.

Then, with just under two minutes to go, Pritchard got double-teamed by Harden and Mobley at the halfway line. Somehow, he managed to squeak out a pass to Neemias Queta, who was waiting in the middle of the floor.

Queta kicked the ball out to a wide-open Tatum, who drained the three, putting Boston back up by 14.

(Unfortunately, the clip cuts off Pritchard’s pass, but it was a beauty.)

Like Brown, Pritchard turned his own isolation success into easy buckets for his teammates. He single-handedly changed the way Cleveland was defending.

3. Jayson Tatum’s first quarter

Though he slowed down as the game went on, including taking some ill-advised threes, Jayson Tatumlooked great to start this game.

In his season debut against the Dallas Mavericks on Friday night, Tatum got off to a slow start. That was not the case on Sunday afternoon. He did a little bit of everything.

Tatum found success with his turnaround middy.

And he was also effective driving to the basket.

Tatum’s skills as a scorer were on full display, all the while, he still managed to show off his playmaking chops.

This play, in particular, was a fun one.

Sam Merrillis supposed to be guarding Derrick White, but Queta catches him with a screen. And since Tatum was about to drive, Mobley stepped up to help Wade contain him.

So, when White comes off the flare screen from Queta, he immediately cuts toward the hoop. Tatum finds him with a nifty pass, and White gets an easy dunk.

4. Baylor Scheierman’s hustle

Obviously, Scheierman’s corner three in the fourth was huge for Boston, but his impact really came to life in the third. Cleveland was attempting to make a run, and he helped snuff it out.

This entire sequence is a perfect example of Scheierman’s impact.

First, he rises up to grab a monster defensive rebound, snatching it away from Harden, who is also trying to battle on the glass.

Then, on the very same play, he dribbles all the way down the floor, finds space in the corner, and nails a step-back three.

Just one offensive possession later, Pritchard misses an open corner three, but Scheierman is there again. He fights his way inside (past Harden), gets a hand on the ball, and manages to tip it out to Hauser.

Scheierman gets credit for the offensive rebound, and Hauser gets three points.

That’s all without mentioning his work on the defensive end, particularly against Harden.

Look at the way he navigates this screen. Bryant goes to set the pick, but Scheierman jumps it right away, forcing Bryant to try again. He eventually gets screened, but thanks to some help from Pritchard, fights all the way back into the play.

Also, this hook shot was nuts. What a play.

5. Celtics were defensive hounds

That defensive play by Scheierman was emblematic of just how great the Celtics were on that end in the second quarter. Cleveland only managed to score 10 points, and at one point, they missed 16 threes in a row.

Look at Boston’s defense on this play. They were committed to showing Mobley multiple bodies in the post.

First, Hauser helps over from the wing, taking away Mobley’s ability to go right (while also denying kick-out opportunities). Then, Pritchard is right there to show even more hands. He double-teams Mobley in the post before sprinting back out to Dennis Schroder, whom Mobley had to pass to.

From there, Pritchard takes on Schroder one-on-one in space, completely shutting him down.

Boston showed Mobley a ton of pressure inside all night. Here, Tatum doubles Mobley (but it’s cut off by the clip) before getting back out and absolutely clamping Mitchell.

The Celtics even did a great job of making up for their own mistakes.

After Pritchard turned the ball over, everyone sprinted back on defense. Craig Porter Jr. passed up a relatively open three (and probably got away with a travel), and three Celtics swarmed the paint to get a steal.

6. Great Celtics passing

This play was just super fun.

Tatum gets switched onto Merrill in the post, and Boston knows it wants to get him the ball. But Merrill does a great job of fronting him, so White can’t make the pass.

So, Queta floats into the middle of the floor to give White a different passing option. White takes it, and Queta immediately dumps the ball to Tatum in the post, because from his angle, he was able to make the pass.

Merrill ends up having to foul Tatum, so he can’t get an easy layup.

Great awareness by Queta to make himself available, and an even better pass to find Tatum deep in the paint (being guarded by a mismatch).