Two preseason games. Two totally different lineups and rotations. Two wins. There’s a lot to like about how this Boston Celtics team has approached its preseason preparations and the tweaks we’ve seen.
Getting one over the Philadelphia 76ers, short-handed or not, is always welcome, too.
The Winning Formula
This time last year, we heard a lot of scuttlebutt about playing at a higher pace. However, once the season got underway, that scuttlebutt quickly dissipated and was replaced by the league’s slowest, most methodical offense. Half-court possessions featured entry actions followed by isolation or matchup hunting.
Don’t get me wrong, it was effective. The Celtics overcame all expectations to finish the regular season as the second seed.
This summer, we’ve heard very little regarding the pace of play. Yet, on Saturday, we saw the Celtics take control of the tempo and push the rock at will. From rapid decision-making to running the floor in transition, Joe Mazzulla’s team looked to beat the Sixers both up the floor and when they were in rotation.
The result was 35 assists on 50 made shots. The shots were high quality and came from multiple areas of the floor. Most importantly, though, it helped get multiple guys in rhythm, and from there, the Celtics never looked back. Playing fast created a free-flowing offense that supported Boston’s perimeter-based game, with 45.8% from deep.
According to CourtSketch, only seven of Jayson Tatum’s 23 points came unassisted. Eight of Payton Pritchard’s 25 were registered without a defender attached. In fact, only Paul George (10) and Derrick White (11) were in double digits in unassisted points that night.
As a result, the Celtics were finding ways to make their passes count. Their decision to swing the rock not only created defensive rotations and quality scoring opportunities, but also led to points being put on the board with rabid efficiency. Tatum (11), Pritchard (20), and Baylor Scheierman (20) all had double-digit numbers in the ‘points created off assists’ category.
There’s another upside to the ball swinging around on offense, too—everyone becomes more locked in and active on defense. Scheierman finished the night with six defensive stops, more than any other Celtic. George had five, and Hugo Gonzalez had three.
Earlier this summer, Brad Stevens spoke about the Celtics’ tendency to stagnate on offense at times.
“One of the things that I’ve always thought is to be a great offense,” Stevens said during an interview with NBC Sports Boston. “You have to be able to score in isolation against certain matchups, you have to be able to score in pick-and-roll, and you have to be able to score off movement. I think at times in the past, in the biggest moments, we’ve had a tendency to be stagnant. I think this group can be more versatile in those ways.”
Based on what we’ve seen over the last two games, stagnation should be a much smaller concern. Sure, there will be times Boston reverts to bad habits, especially early in the season. Yet if what we saw against the Sixers is any indication of what’s to come, isolation-heavy ‘your turn, my turn’ basketball could be a thing of the past.
A Look At The Playbook
When you’re playing a free-flowing, high-paced game, the need to flow into half-court sets is reduced. Still, it’s always worthwhile to run some set actions before the season starts, mainly to see what works, what wrinkles you can add, and when to change the game plan.
One play that I enjoyed came late in the third quarter.
This action is out of Boston’s ‘screen the screener’ series and has the option to flow into a ‘gator action’ to attack the rim.
Let’s break it down.
The play starts with Paul George setting a rip screen (back screen) on the left side of the court. That screen creates a switch for Payton Pritchard, giving him a potential advantage off the bounce. After George’s screen, he gets a screen from Neemias Queta, allowing him to flare to the top of the perimeter. With so much attention on the shooting talent around the horn, Queta has been able to roll into the paint without being tagged or met by a low man.
As Queta rolls, George swings the pass to Tatum — it’s here where a ‘gator action’ could have been implemented had Tatum hit Neemy on the roll — instead, Tatum (who was feeling it from deep) lets off a catch-and-shoot three that ultimately hits the back iron.
Ok, so the play didn’t result in a bucket. Still, the process was solid. There were multiple options out of the ‘screen the screener’ entry, and plenty of ways the Celtics could adapt this play throughout the season.
Give me more of these actions, please!
Wax On, Wax Off
When Mr. Miyagi taught Daniel LaRusso how to block punches, he did so in a way that taught him to deflect his opponent’s strikes. It’s better to redirect a blow rather than to cover up and absorb the impact. Furthermore, deflecting a strike leaves an opening to launch a counterattack.
Basketball is no different. Sometimes, it’s better to deflect than to allow a dribble-drive entry or a bullet pass to find a cutter.
Against the Sixers, the Celtics had some incredibly active hands. On top of their 16 steals throughout the game, they also dominated in mucking things up in the passing lanes, registering a total of 22 deflections.
We often look at steals as a barometer of defensive activity and peskiness. However, deflections are also a key indicator of that. In fact, in some ways, they’re just as important. If you’re consistently poking balls loose, making passes hard to complete, or forcing recoveries on drives, the opposing team struggles to find its rhythm, gets flustered, and sometimes starts to force the issue.
Not only did the Celtics generate easy buckets via pilfers, but they also created a tough environment for the Sixers to succeed. Part of having a younger rotation, awash with size, length, and athleticism off the bench, is sustaining a higher tempo, and if this is what Boston’s defense looks like this season, good luck finding any consistent rhythm throughout the night.
Paul George Looks Like A Good Fit
Saturday was the first time we saw George take to the court in a Celtics jersey. We all have our thoughts on how he wound up in Boston, and whether that deal was smart business by Stevens. Yet, what we can’t deny is that he played well, showed his versatility on both sides of the ball, and appears to be a solid fit into Mazzulla’s system and as a secondary star next to Jayson Tatum.
Most importantly, though, Tatum appears pleased to be sharing the floor with George.
“It was great,” Tatum told the media after the game. “You know, we’ve been teammates for a few months now. It was like my first time sharing the floor with him and being on the same team. Somebody that I’ve obviously admired for a very very long time, when I was in high school and college and competing against him, and now to be on the same team and just see some of the special things that he brings to a team, you know, looking forward.”
Tatum and George will undoubtedly build chemistry as the season goes on. They’ll learn each other’s spots and how to cover each other’s weaknesses while accentuating their strengths. The fact that things looked as good as they did, albeit against a weakened opponent, should be highly encouraging with the new season just nine days away.
Like Mazzulla said recently, it’s easy for everyone to get along during training camp and preseason, as the roster hasn’t been tasked with navigating a period of adversity. So, we’ll see how things look once the games start coming thick and fast. For now, though, the Tatum and George pairing is something I’m cautiously optimistic about heading into the season.
Talking Of Tatum…
How great was it to see him dominating?
Tatum was borderline unstoppable at times. He looked like the All-NBA superstar we had become accustomed to before his injury. Again, this was only one game. A preseason game nonetheless. Yet, if he’s moving that well, processing the game at that speed, and shooting with such confidence, you can’t help but be excited for what’s to come, right?
“I mean, tonight it was just — I thought he had a good carryover from what we’re asking to do on both ends of the court,” Mazzulla said after the game. “His defensive activity was good. I thought offensively he had great flow. The ball found him, but he was able to create opportunities for himself and his teammates, and so I thought the carryover from what our expectation is for him on both sides of the ball is one step of doing it there and continuing to get better and better from it. But I thought his cardio looked good, decision-making looked good, and his activity was good.”
There were times when Tatum’s presence alone caused Philly’s defense to panic. Take this ‘ghost screen’ action as an example.
Tatum initiated a ‘ghost screen’ as the Sixers looked to contain Derrick White. Most teams that switch actions on the pick-and-roll have a trigger of when contact is created, the switch occurs. Ghost screens are effective because that contact is never created, and thus, the on-ball defenders have to communicate better. As you can see in the clip above, that communication appears to have been delayed, as both White and Tatum’s defender stick on White, allowing Tatum to catch the ball while being wide open in the slot.
Philly’s defense then scrambles to take the shot away from Tatum, with Jordan Walsh’s defender sprinting up from the corner, and one of White’s defenders scrambling over. Rather than forcing the issue, Tatum waits for the two defenders to commit before hitting Walsh, who is wide open in the corner.
Literally one fake screen, and the Sixers found themselves scrambling.
Another aspect of Tatum’s game that should elevate the team is how he likes to reward his bigs in the pick-and-roll.
Neemy, Mitchell Robinson, and Luka Garza are all going to eat off Tatum assists this season. Be it a pocket pass like in the clip above, or Tatum putting the rock into the vertical spacing corridor, allowing for lob finishes as the roll man gets downhill.
Tatum brings a level of unpredictability as a pick-and-roll creator, secondary or primary facilitator, and off-ball threat via movement and scoring gravity.
If this is how good he looks ahead of the season, imagine what he’ll be doing after the All-Star break, when he traditionally takes things to another level.
Final Thoughts
When it comes to playing the Sixers, I don’t care if it’s a preseason game or Game 7 of the NBA Finals—they’re all must-wins. The Celtics took care of business on Saturday, and they did so in a way that left us all excited for the season to come.
After the summer we’ve all had following this team, a win like this was a welcome palate cleanser. Now, bring on the Charlotte Hornets on Wednesday, October. 14!
