First, let’s quiet the injury talk. No doubt precautions will be taken with Jayson Tatum (28), Paul George (36), and Mitchell Robinson (28). Derrick White (32) might even take a few more days off after playing 73+ games over each of the last three seasons. Their age and usage are all legitimate concerns, but this team is deep. Really deep. Leave the handwringing over PG’s max contract and load management for sports talk radio and the clicks. Instead, appreciate what Brad Stevens and the front office
has built despite dodging the second apron in two consecutive years.
Consider that on a night when Boston put up a preseason-record 144 points, six of the eleven rotation players scored in double figures and Mike Conley Jr. and Ron Harper Jr. didn’t play. The Celtics are going to play fast. Really fast. Their active defense had 16 steals and generated 22 turnovers to the tune of a 96.5 defensive rating. To run the gauntlet of the 82-game regular season, they’ll need bodies. If any of the marquee players need to take the night off or even some extended time to nurse a nagging injury (knock on wood), every position doesn’t just have a backup, but a backup to the backup with rookies and two-way studs in the wings (pun intended).
Oh, and about these antiquated ideas of fit and role, throw those out the window, too. CelticsBlog’s Nate Moskowitz once remarked that Joe Mazzulla was building an army of Derrick Whites. On a night-to-night, matchup-to-matchup basis, there are going to be times when someone might make a little more sense. On Saturday night against the Sixers, Jordan Walsh got the nod to join the starters, presumably to pester the backcourt of VJ Edgecombe and Tyrese Maxey. But in the long run, don’t be surprised if those fourth or fifth starters are literally anybody off that deep bench. The Celtics depth is only matched by the well-roundedness of everybody that’s in it.
One more thing: as much as The Globe’s Gary Washburn is fond of mentioning the three-point shooting in a loss, let’s bury any criticism of Boston’s shot selection. Over the past three seasons, the Celtics have submitted three of the six most efficient offenses in league history. Maybe it’s fair to argue their reliability in the playoffs — even though that top-rated offense hung Banner 18 in the rafters.
However, what’s not up for debate is Mazzulla’s mindset to maximize possessions at not just the micro level of getting the best shot, but also in the macro of generating more shots. Against Cleveland on Thursday, the Celtics took nine more shots and won the free throw battle 35 to 16. Philly had thirteen fewer field goal attempts in a 38-point rout. What’s scary is that they’ve carried over their focus on offensive rebounding and supersized the margin by adding Robinson and made deflections and steals another point of emphasis on defense.
Washburn will be the first hand up in the postgame presser when the Celtics make just 7-of-37 from behind the arc and lose to visiting Kings. But Gary, my man, this is a process-oriented team and the process is working.
Maybe I’m drunk on preseason vibes. That’s totally possible. CelticsBlog’s Sam LaFrance makes a mean margarita and I’m on a two-game binger.
