Have the Celtics found a cheat code halfcourt action?
Joe Mazzulla and his coaching staff have been creative with their halfcourt sets this season. The Boston Celtics have run a wide array of different actions that utilize their elite perimeter shooting and explosive slashing ability when getting downhill. However, the range of plays they’ve been running out of “horns” sets has slowly become online discussion points.
One of those plays is “Horns Oklahoma Flare.” The principle of this action is fairly basic. The Celtics setup in an inverted Horns alignment means both bigs are either in the corner or in the dunker spot. Then, there’s a guard and a forward on either elbow with the ball-handler up top.
From there, the two players on the elbow will flow into a stagger screen, and then one of the screeners will set a flare screen for the other screener.
In a recent episode of the “All NBA Podcast,” Adam Mares and Tim Legler dive into the action and provide multiple examples of how the Celtics have been running it by either slipping the flare screen or hitting the popping shooter.
You can watch the full video by clicking on the embedded link above.
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