The Boston Celtics dominated the Philadelphia 76ers in their first of two preseason matchups, a 38-point rout. This was our first look at most of the Celtics’ top players, with Jayson Tatum, Paul George, Derrick White, Payton Pritchard, Mitchell Robinson, Neemias Queta, and Sam Hauser all making their pre-season debuts and what a debut it was.
Joe Mazzulla isn’t one to tip his hand, but it’s no secret that gaining extra possessions is a core tenant in his basketball philosophy. That’s going to come
through two main sources: crashing the offensive glass and an active defense. The extra possessions were found in abundance during Saturday’s victory.
Paul George was responsible for a good chunk of them, a promising display of what he can bring to this new iteration of the Celtics. He came away with a team-high five steals, tied with Baylor Scheierman. From the jump, it was easy to see how locked in PG was defensively, especially for a preseason game.
George’s defense looked completely effortless. He wasn’t flying up and down the court or hounding defenders all 94 feet. He kept things nice and simple, relying on good positioning, and years of experience as one of the league’s premier defenders.
Three of PG’s steals came from reading the passing lanes with active hands. He led the team with six deflections, and the ones which resulted in Boston gaining possession all sparked fastbreaks, two of which the Celtics were able to convert to easy buckets.
An underrated aspect of Paul’s defense is, ironically enough, his offense. Being able to convert defensive stops into transition buckets by reading the floor and pushing the ball up the court will be an invaluable addition to a team that ranked dead-last in both fastbreak points and pace last season. Boston was also towards the bottom of the league (26th) in turnovers forced per game at just 12.9, something they’ll be looking to remedy this year.
George wasn’t solely an off-ball specialist in Saturday’s game. He also had a Jrue Holiday-esque strip which led to a dunk of his own.
Even when he wasn’t the one to come away with a steal, he heavily influenced the Celtics’ defensive possessions to wreak havoc. He was extremely connected with his teammates, and incredibly active as well. Whether a play results in a stop or not, his defensive tenacity will wear down opposing players, especially with his versatility, being able to shut down stars and role-players alike. Tatum went as far as to call George Boston’s “defensive playmaker” alongside Scheierman.
Keep in mind, we’re still just talking about a preseason game. I wouldn’t expect Paul to average 5 steals a night over the course of the year, but if he maintains this level of activity, Boston’s defense will be hard to beat.
That night, Mazzulla said George takes things to another level defensively. “Great instincts. Great technique. Great positioning. It’s something he takes pride in and I think is very contagious,” he added.
And before Tuesday’s practice, Joe gave some encouraging words about Paul’s health. “He’s had a tremendous training camp from a physical standpoint… He’s in great shape. He feels great from that standpoint.”
PG certainly showed us that he’s moving well and ready to work. Now, we’re just under a week away from Boston’s regular season opener. It won’t be long until we can stop dreaming about what this team can accomplish and start seeing the results speak for themselves.
