When you hear about a player “attacking a closeout,” what’s being described is when someone receives a pass in spot-up position and then dupes his defender by putting the ball on the floor instead of shooting. Here’s what that looks like
Brown’s explosive dunk, Nikola Vucevic dipping his head in shame, and the bench’s reaction make for a truly beautiful basketball moment (unless you’re a Magic fan). There is a small sample size for this specific type of play, but Brown leads the NBA in points per possession (PPP) scored driving to the rim when attacking closeouts (of players with a minimum 10 shots)! According to Synergy Sports, Brown scores 1.6 PPP on 19 chances. Kevin Durant is second, at 1.5 PPP.
Brown is shooting 35.3 percent from behind the arc so far this season, much better than his efficiency in college (29.4 percent), so defenders are more compelled to contest him from the perimeter. Maybe Brown’s numbers will regress and by season’s end defenses will be baiting him into jumpers and stopping his thunderous drives, but for now he’s causing havoc inside. The rookie isn’t ready to contribute a heavy workload, but at only 20 years old he’s looking like a keeper for the Celtics with his flashes in the open floor.