Three preseason games, three wins, and three beautiful possession-maximized games. The Boston Celtics have now logged 311 offensive possessions (per Cleaning The Glass) as they prepare for the upcoming season. They’ve scored 381 points, winning their games by an average of 23.3 points per game. For reference, that’s 1.22 points per possession.
Against the Charlotte Hornets, Joe Mazzulla’s team faced a different challenge, as Charles Lee had both Naz Reid and Moussa Diabate in the starting lineup,
giving them high-level rim protection. Credit to the Hornets, they played hard, but ultimately, the Celtics kept their strong march toward the regular season going.
The Curveballs Played A Role
It’s preseason; quirky rotations, random substitution patterns, and lineups are par for the course. So, when Mazzulla opted to throw out a lineup of Neemias Queta, Mitchell Robinson, Sam Hauser, Baylor Scheierman, and Payton Pritchard, I wasn’t surprised, but I was intrigued, just as I suspect most of you reading this were, too.
There were other curveballs, too. Hugo Gonzalez played only 4 minutes in the first half, losing some of that time to Sam Hauser, who went scoreless in his 9 minutes. Jordan Walsh got the nod as a starter for the second straight game, but only got six minutes of playing time through the first two quarters.
We saw more of the same in the second half, with Hauser getting another nine minutes and Gonzalez playing two-thirds of the fourth quarter.
Joe Mazzulla is gathering information. He’s trying things out, getting film on those possessions and seeing what clicks, what doesn’t, and what could be impactful with some subtle tweaks here and there.
“I have a deep bench, a lot of depth, so I just want to give every look imaginable so that you know we’re able to have a general idea of how we want to attack it defensively and offensively when the season starts,” Mazzulla told the media after the game.
Those curveballs made the Celtics harder to cover. Throwing out three shooters, two of which can penetrate off the bounce, read the floor, and create for themselves and others, along with two lob and rebounding threats in Robinson and Queta, was interesting. It gave the Celtics a genuine presence across all three scoring levels and made Charlotte’s pick-and-roll coverage deal with some uncomfortable situations.
Boston’s willingness to get downhill was also a welcome sight, as they navigated some forgettable shooting from deep, which included not one, but two (that I counted) airballs from Paul George.
Ultimately, though, it was the Celtics’ ability to impact shots on the defensive end that gave them an edge in this game. Shutting down driving lanes, forcing tough looks, switching with purpose, and attacking the passing lanes — all of these things added up to a stellar rearguard production, holding Charlotte to 93 points on 75 shots.
From the moment George rotated over from the weak side to blow up this short-roll action from the Hornets, you knew it would be a difficult night for Charlotte’s offense. The Celtics registered 16 steals and 22 deflections, allowing them to control the tempo and dictate the terms of engagement as they looked to shut down the game.
A pattern is forming throughout this preseason: Boston is aggressively attacking the defensive side of the floor, looking to get out and run off mistakes. The Celtics ranked 23rd in the NBA in opponent turnover percentage last season, and if I had to hazard a guess, this will be their most improved area coming into the new campaign because it’s working, and it’s working well.
A Look At The Playbook
Against the Philadelphia 76ers, the Celtics pushed the pace. They were hunting pitch-ahead passess, and attacking in transition off misses, rebounds and pilfers. Mazzulla’s offense looked different against Charlotte. The team still played at a solid tempo, but it was certainly more half-court based.
There were more off-ball screens, secondary screens, veer actions, and cuts.
One play that really stood out to me was a high split action on the weak side of the ball that got Jayson Tatum moving downhill before ending in a lob pass to Mitchell Robinson.
The play starts with Tatum swinging the rock to the opposite side of the floor on the way up the floor, with George being the recipient. Robinson then sets an off-ball screen for Tatum, which on the surface looks like it’s designed as a quick action to get Tatum cutting toward an impending pass from George.
Tatum, however, delays his cut, waiting for White to get into the play. From there, Tatum and White split cut off each other.
This is where the magic happens.
After the cut, Tatum indeed receives the pass from George. He draws two defenders as a result: one who helps off George, and another who has stepped up to contain the drive (this was Robinson’s man). Hauser’s defender has also shaded over.
The problem for Charlotte is that by having Robinson’s man plant his feet in front of Tatum, Robinson, who began his role immediately after the split cut, is running unimpeded to the rim. Tatum’s defender is in the rearview, but hasn’t closed space quickly enough.
With Tatum’s driving lane closed off, and a jump shot being a poor shot choice, Tatum does what he does best when playing with a rim-runner: puts the ball straight into the lob corridor for Robinson to attack vertically.
Boom!
Bucket.
There’s another wrinkle here, though.
As the action unfolds, White has positioned himself in the weak-side corner. His defender has his back turned, as he watches the play unfold. If Robinson’s roll had been shut down, or he had met resistance as he got to the rim, a skip pass to White would have created a high-quality three-point attempt.
One screen. One cut. Three different scoring options.
In the words of Sidney Dean: It’s pretty. It’s so pretty.
Losing The Rebounding Battle
I don’t think we’ll say this often this season, but last night the Celtics lost the rebounding battle. Charlotte pulled down 43 boards compared to the Celtics 40. OK, it’s marginal, but it’s still an area where the Celtics lost.
It’s worth noting that Boston won the offensive glass, grabbing 9 ORBs to the Hornets’ 7.
Tatum led the team with 8 rebounds, all coming on the defensive glass. He’ll probably hover around that number as his season average, too. However, Charlotte’s double-big rotation caused the Celtics some issues. That’s good information to have, as it’ll allow Mazzulla and the coaching staff to develop counters and game plans for when they find themselves in that position and sending two bigs on the floor doesn’t make sense in the moment.
I’m not worried, though. The Celtics rank first for total rebounds, second for defensive rebounds, and third for offensive rebounds during preseason. With the size and length the Celtics have throughout the roster, coupled with the big man rotation at Mazzulla’s disposal, controlling the glass, at either end of the floor, should not be an issue this season.
This Isn’t The Same Neemy
Queta has been working on his game this summer. You only have to watch his performance last night to see that he’s taken a developmental leap. How big that leap is, will be something we learn as the season gets underway and progresses. Still, there’s a lot of reasons to be excited for his production this year.
A lot will be said about his willingness to take shots from the perimeter. I get it. If he can become somewhat reliable out there, he’ll give Boston a spacing boost and another pick-and-pop option alongside Luka Garza. Yet, it was his activity that really stood out to me. His screening, movement, and decision-making with the rock in his hands.
“I think the best version of Neemy gives us a little bit of playmaking opportunities and being able to make plays off the dribble in the seam,” Mazzulla said. “…That playmaking is an area that we’d like to see Neemi take to a little bit of a different level for sure.”
By now, we’ve all seen this highlight play from Queta. He fakes the hand-off, turns the corner and drives for a poster dunk. There will be times where Queta will need to make a read out of his drive, or to abandon getting downhill in favor of moving the rock. How well he makes those reads, and the pace of that decision-making, will tell us a lot about the type of jump he could take this year.
Whether he starts or comes off the bench this season, Queta’s development will be a genuine swing factor for the Celtics. So, seeing him play so well during preseason, is certainly encouraging.
Paul George’s Shot Will Come
George is now 5-20 from the field over his two preseason games.
Woof.
Outside of scoring the ball, he’s playing great. He’s highly impactful on defense. He’s a willing passer. And his presence, both as a spot-up threat and when on the move, forces defenses to stay locked in.
However, until his shots start to fall at a considerably higher clip, we’re not going to see him at his best. The point of being a two-way threat, is that you impact the games on both sides of the ball. George will get there, though.
Right now, he’s navigating through some growing pains. A whole new offensive and defensive system. Brand new teammates, learning when and where he’s most effective receiving the ball, and of course, vice versa. Oh, and lets not forget that he’s figuring out his new role on the fly.
Preseason isn’t supposed to be polished. It’s not supposed to be pretty. You play these games to get an idea of what needs work, and what does or doesn’t gave the desired outcome. George will continue figuring all this out during the opening weeks, maybe even months, of the upcoming season. His shooting struggles won’t last forever (I hope). It’s then, when he’s close to the best version of himself within his role, that we’ll start to see what the duo of George and Tatum are capable of.
It’s going to take some time, and that means some patience from everyone involved, but when it clicks, it’s going to be so much fun to watch!
Final Thoughts
We’re less than a week away from opening night. Before that, there’s one more preseason game on the docket. Win or lose, it won’t change the fact that this Celtics team has the potential to defy whatever low expectations get put on their shoulders this season.
There’s so much to like about this roster. So, while the offseason was full of controversy, and some are still ruing the loss of Jaylen Brown, i’m choosing to put my green goggles on and look ahead to what has the potential to be a memorable and highly entertaining season.
I hope you’ll join me in that excitment!
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