Celtics success at defending LeBron James one-on-one

There are a lot of theories as to the best way to defend LeBron James and the Cleveland Cavaliers. Some believe you let James get his and focus on stopping everyone else. Others think you should send a double and get the ball out of his hands, forcing his teammates to step up. And then there is the approach of throwing a bunch of different looks at James to keep him off balance.

The Boston Celtics largely threw all of that out the window in Game 1 and simply played the defense they’ve been playing all year. They trust each player on the floor to do his job as part of a five man unit (cue cliché about “five fingers, one fist”). The Celtics switch everything, rarely double and focus on keeping…