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In an effort most fans would be proud of, the Milwaukee Bucks fell to the Philadelphia 76ers, 127-116, in a game that was much closer than the final score suggests. In the second leg of their back-to-back, the Bucks went to Philadelphia and took it to a team many believe will contend for a title. Every time Philly looked to take control, Milwaukee made a huge play—offensively or defensively—to keep them in the hunt. In the end, though, the 76ers’ talent became too much to overcome. Read our full summary of the game here and catch a six-minute audio recap on the Bucks+ podcast, Bucks In Six Minutes, below.

Player Grades

Ryan Rollins

25 minutes, 15 points, 4 rebounds, 4 assists, 2 turnovers, 4 PF, 6/14 FG, 2/5 3P, 0

Certainly trending in the right direction, but still not quite at the production level we expect from Ryan Rollins. Kudos to Rollins for getting into an aggressive mindset from the jump, though, with two early attacks on Tyrese Maxey to get him going. I also thought Rollins was pretty damn solid as Maxey’s primary defender, making him work for everything. He’s getting there.

Grade: C+

Tyler Herro

31 minutes, 13 points, 6 rebounds, 3 assists, 3 turnovers, 6/14 FG, 2/5 3P, -15

I mean, Herro still shot relatively efficiently, but his floor game was much worse in this one. Whether it was fatigue from the back-to-back—especially after spending so much energy getting the Bucks back into the game against the Bulls—or facing better defenders, Herro was pretty muted last night. The only reason I didn’t put Herro in the D-band is that he wasn’t forcing shots.

Grade: C-

Jaime Jaquez Jr.

27 minutes, 21 points, 8 rebounds, 4 assists, 2 turnovers, 7/13 FG, 2/3 3P , 5/7 FT, -15

Jaquez did much of his usual work inside again, with another efficient night, but as we flagged in the offseason, his ability to make spot-up threes will determine his next contract—4/6 over his last two games. He also proved to be one of the Bucks’ best defenders on Jaylen Brown, even though he was at a speed disadvantage.

Grade: B+

Kyle Kuzma

35 minutes, 14 points, 12 rebounds, 3 assists, 3 turnovers, 6/11 FG, 0/3 3P, -3

An OK game from Kuzma overall. In particular, I liked Kuz’s cutting; he made a really nice diagonal cut in semi-transition to get a layup off a drive by Herro in the first quarter.

Grade: C+

Myles Turner

20 minutes, 0 points, 5 rebounds, 1 assist, 1 block, 3 turnovers, 0/4 FG, 0/2 3P, -16

I mean, where do you even start with Turner? This was maybe the worst game I’ve seen Turner play in a Bucks uniform; he was actively detrimental to the team for most of the game. To sum it up, MT had a sequence late in the second quarter that went as follows:

1. Jaylen Brown missed from the right elbow, the ball bounced right in front of Turner, and he let Brown run in and grab his own rebound to put it in;
2. a minute or so later, Turner caught the ball on the left wing and telegraphed a pass right into the waiting help defenders;
3. Tyrese Maxey ran in front of him in transition, receiving the ball for the layup;
4. he telegraphed the ensuing inbound pass, which was stolen by the 76ers;
5. he fouled Jabari Walker, but not hard enough that Walker couldn’t get the and-one.

Suffice it to say, the big man found himself on the bench to close the half.

Grade: F

Kel’el Ware

29 minutes, 19 points, 13 rebounds, 2 blocks, 3 turnovers, 6/11 FG, 2/5 3P, 5/5 FT, +4

As Michael Corleone says in The Godfather, “Just when I thought I was out, they pull me back in.” Ware had some great defensive moments containing drivers in the drop defence, along with blocking shots both in the half-court and in transition. He also ran the floor hard, set good screens, and I thought he took the right three-point shots. I also want to add that Ware sealed smaller players well multiple times, but his teammates didn’t get the ball to him, which was annoying.

Grade: B+

Kasparas Jakucionis

24 minutes, 12 points, 3 rebounds,2 assists, 3 turnovers, 4/8 FG, 0/3 3P, -15

Yet another strong game from Jakucionis, who is cementing himself as a key cog on this team. Showed some great craft and touch around the rim, and maybe most surprisingly, was not scared one bit of challenging Joel Embiid. That said, three turnovers for just two assists isn’t ideal.

Grade: B-

Brayden Burries

17 minutes, 10 points, 5 rebounds,2 assists, 3/7 FG, 1/4 3P, +6

A solid bounce-back game for Burries, who struggled the night before. When he can get a step on his defender and go to the hoop with a head of steam, good things usually happen—he also hit a nice transition three.

Grade: C+

AJ Green

19 minutes, 11 points, 2 turnovers, 4/7 FG, 3/6 3P, +5

Green made his open threes and mixed in some tough ones, but that wasn’t the news of the day. Did anyone see his hesitation move on the wing, where he exploded to the rim and finished with the same-hand-same-foot finish? Whewwww.

Grade: B-

Nate Ament

11 minutes, 1 point, 3 rebounds, 1 steal, 5 PF, 0/1 FG, 1/4 FT, -6

Look, clearly this wasn’t the debut Ament was hoping for. He got called for three fouls in what felt like a minute, then two more for boxing out with the wrong technique. His minutes were just so choppy that it would have been tough to find a rhythm. Ament must learn that his size and length let him defend with a slight buffer and still contest shots; he doesn’t need to get so close to guys or try to steal the ball. That said, we should acknowledge that Ament was tasked with guarding Jaylen Brown, and he did have some nice possessions, including a steal (which was followed by a double-dribble, unfortunately).

Grade: D+

Taylor Jenkins

Again, there’s very little Jenkins can do about 22 turnovers. Maybe you could criticise his decision to throw Nate Ament out there against that team, but Ament needs to get experience somehow, and this season is about development over winning (also, it wasn’t like Ous was lighting the world on fire). Closing with Ware was absolutely the right move. Maybe Herro could have been more of a focal point; he did feel a little too much like an afterthought for my liking, but others may disagree. Overall, though, it’s incredibly impressive that Jenkins had the Bucks push Philly to the brink on the second night of a back-to-back—that’s the story.

Grade: B

DNP-CD: Ousmane Dieng, Caris LeVert, Bogoljub Markovic, Jericho Sims, Gary Trent Jr.

Inactive: Kam Jones, Cormac Ryan, Pete Nance

What We Learnt

The Bucks will win these games if they can just fix their damn turnover problem. They had another 22 in this game, currently ranking seventh-worst in the league.

Bonus Bucks Bits

• Jenkins: “Obviously, the record is the record, but we’re making progress on how we want to play. This was a better reflection of what we want to do defensively… I thought we got great looks, just missed some shots. Turnovers put us in a bind, but overall, I love the competitive juice. Just came up short in the end.”
• Finally, the Bucks won the paint battle, and did so in a major way, beating Philly 58-26. They also killed the 76ers in fast break points (31-13).
• Listen, I’m no Joel Embiid stan, but when healthy, that dude is legitimately unstoppable; easily one of the most skilled big men in NBA history.
• Tyler Herro seems to have a cap of around 30 minutes per game. So far, he’s played 32, 32, and 31 minutes. I suspect the Bucks might be doing what the Hornets did last season with LaMelo Ball, where you cap their minutes in the hope that doing so keeps them healthy, thus increasing their value, and then you trade them.

Up Next

The Bucks get a day off before returning Monday night at home to play the Indiana Pacers at 7:00 p.m. CDT. Catch the action on MY24.

A win is a win, and in the NBA, they can be hard to come by. You take them however you can get them, up to and including when the opposing team decides to sit the majority of its roster. That’s how the Phoenix Suns earned their first win of the season in their home opener, and it ended up being a pretty important one when you consider they have the Thunder and Nuggets on the schedule next week. Starting 0-2 and heading into those matchups would’ve added even more pressure to a team that’s still trying to figure out who it is.

Because that’s where we are right now, isn’t it? We knew who the Suns were last season. We don’t know who this version of the team is yet. While continuity remains, there’s still plenty of room for players to learn where their teammates are going to be and how they’re going to operate together on both ends of the floor. We witnessed that multiple times Saturday night against the Warriors.

Countless defensive rotations were missed, leading to wide-open shooters. Lackadaisical inbound passes resulted in turnovers. And rebounding? Oh boy, it appears that’s going to be a significant issue for this team throughout the season. When you’re surrendering 16 offensive rebounds to what essentially amounts to the Santa Cruz Warriors, that’s not a talent issue. That’s a size issue. The undersized Suns were getting owned on the glass by a team considered one of the smallest in the NBA. In fact, per Salary Swish, Golden State is the shortest team in the league, while Phoenix sits right in the middle at 17th. It certainly didn’t feel that way Saturday night.

They say you can’t truly know who and what a team is until 20 games into the season, and I believe that. But I also believe each game leading up to that 20-game mark serves as a little quiz, giving us another opportunity to understand the attitude and aptitude of a team.

The good news from Saturday night is that the Phoenix Suns won. Their star stepped up and performed like one, and the team shot the basketball well. Collectively, Phoenix shot 37.8% from beyond the arc and 58.1% from the field. For a team that was anemic offensively against the Portland Trail Blazers, that’s an encouraging sign and a step in the right direction. Defensively? Allowing 122 points to that version of the Warriors is concerning. Getting outrebounded 19–9 on the offensive glass is equally troubling, as is being outscored 26–9 in second-chance points.

So we’ll continue compiling the results of these little quizzes over the next 20 games until we have a clearer understanding of what this version of the Phoenix Suns looks like. Because we knew what last season looked like. And thus far this season? It ain’t that.

Bright Side Baller Standings

The season opener left us with but one real option as the Bright Side Baller. And true to form, the community stepped up and got the vote right. That winner? Mariah Carey. She has become our beacon when everything else is dark, for her 5-octave vocal range is that of a Hero. It’s no Fantasy that Anytime You Need a Friend, after dealing with a Heartbreaker like the Suns did against Portland, she’ll help with those Emotions.

Bright Side Baller Nominees

Game 2 against the Warriors. Here are your nominees:

Devin Booker
43 points (17-of-25, 2-of-7 3PT), 7 rebounds, 7 assists, 1 block, 4 turnovers, +2 +/-

Miles Bridges
16 points (6-of-11, 2-of-5 3PT), 7 rebounds, 3 assists, 1 steal, 0 turnovers, +1 +/-

Collin Gillespie
11 points (4-of-7, 2-of-5 3PT), 4 rebounds, 9 assists, 2 steals, 2 turnovers, +16 +/-

Dillon Brooks
15 points (6-of-12, 1-of-3 3PT), 2 rebounds, 5 assists, 2 turnovers, -2 +/-

Khaman Maluach
9 points (2-of-3, 1-of-2 3PT), 9 rebounds, 3 assists, 1 steal, 2 blocks, 2 turnovers, +8 +/-

Luke Kennard
11 points (4-of-6, 3-of-5 3PT), 4 rebounds, 1 assist, 1 steal, 0 turnovers, +15 +/-

It’s your turn now. Vote away!

In just the second game of the season for the Dallas Mavericks, former Duke star Cooper Flagg picked off a steal and headed downcourt for an easy basket. However, Indiana’s Aaron Nesmith was closing fast on Flagg, and caught up to him at the basket, where he dispatched a hard foul that sent the young Dallas star to the floor, holding his shoulder and grimacing.

Here’s the video of the play, which sparked a scrum that got pretty heated.

As it turned out, Flagg left the game and later got an MRI. It looks like he has a mild shoulder sprain, and will probably miss a few games.

Fortunately, it’s not all that serious, but he’ll join his former Duke roommate Kon Kneuppel on the sidelines. The runner-up to Flagg for last year’s Rookie of the Year Award, Knueppel is getting over a hamstring issue. He’s expected to return to the court fairly soon.

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CLEVELAND — The Cleveland Cavaliers have lost the two fourth quarters they’ve played this season by a combined 24 points. Their poor late-game execution kept them from delivering a statement win over the Philadelphia 76ers on opening night, and it almost cost them again two days later in their home opener against the Brooklyn Nets.

The culprit behind both collapses was the same.

“We lost the possession game by 16,” head coach Kenny Atkinson said after his team narrowly defeated the Nets. “We got to clean up the turnovers.”

Turnovers lead to bad offense. Bad offense leads to bad defense. You combine those together, and 22-point leads can evaporate in a heartbeat, even against an inexperienced Nets team.

“Good offense [is important] because it really helps you guard the ball,” Mario Hezonja said. “Our rhythm is imposed onto the opponent, so it’s much easier to go both ways. The moment you start to have bad turnovers or bad possessions or even bad shots…that impacts a lot of the mental aspect for a player, and it impacts a lot of the defensive side.”

It’s easy to look at the poor fourth quarter in Game 1 last postseason against the New York Knicks and the start of this season, and believe that there’s a mental barrier keeping the Cavs from closing out games. Maybe there is, but at least in these first two games, the Cavs’ issues are very much basketball-related. As was the case in Philadelphia, the Cavs once again struggled to handle ball pressure.

It’s a copycat league. Teams see what works, and then try to replicate it. One wave we’re seeing now is a drastic increase in blitzing defenses. Defenses are more aggressive in how they’re sending doubles and jumping passing lanes than before. That is especially true late in games, when opponents are trailing and are desperate to get back into games. Hence the reason the Cavs are struggling with this so much down the stretch.

“There’s an unpredictability to it,” Donovan Mitchell said. “I think it’s random. The NBA has turned into that as a whole. Indiana really did a great job of it two years ago, and I think everybody followed suit. It was just like, just cause chaos and figure it out. … When you’re picking up full court and randomly trapping, there’s really no scheme for that. It’s like AAU basketball.”

Atkinson has emphasized the need to just “pass to the open man.” That sounds simple enough and is what needs to happen. The problems come when the team isn’t currently capable of doing that.

There are a couple of issues preventing the Cavs from doing so. First, their starting lineup only has two players they trust to operate in these situations with the ball in their hands. Second, there isn’t a good feel for where guys should be on the court when the traps come.

“It’s a different five,” Mitchell said. “[We’re] calling different plays.”

For as frustrating as these first two games have been, the sky isn’t falling — at least not yet. These are things that can be cleaned up.

“There’s no excuses, but we are working on it,” Hezonja said. “There are some new pieces that we added to the team, so this unfortunately takes a little bit of time, but we are working on it. Everything started to mesh better and better, and I hope [that] soon it’s going to look good.”

Time is on the Cavs’ side. The regular season is where you build habits and problem-solve for how teams are going to attack you.

Right now, the book is out on how to disrupt the Cavs: be physical with them at the point of attack and send random double teams at their guards. That is how teams will defend them until the Cavs show they can beat that kind of defense. And from a certain perspective, going through these struggles now instead of in April should benefit them.

“It’s not always going to be perfect,” Mitchell said, “but I think for us, having these first two games…similar but different ways, I think is definitely going to help us in the long run.”

The Atlanta Hawks took on the Houston Rockets in their first home game of the 2026-27 NBA season. Both teams entered the contest 2-0 and were on the second night of back-to-back. Both teams have done a great job of scoring, as Atlanta defeated Charlotte by 47 points, and Houston defeated the Spurs 114-110 the night prior. Fatigue was possibly going to be a factor, but both teams appeared fresh throughout the game. Here’s the breakdown:

Offensively: The Hawks had good looks for shots from the wing and deep, but they failed to be consistent. Shooting from three was a hindrance for them as they went 13/49 for 26.5%. They also went 15/21 from the free throw line, which isn’t bad, but not good enough to beat a team like Houston. Making the most out of offensive possessions is a key component and the Hawks didn’t quite do much of that.

Shooting was a struggle during the night, but they did well down in the post, getting the ball to open guys and capitalizing. Atlanta’s back court really kept them in the game with players such as Dyson Daniels, Nickeil Alexnader-Walker, Jalen Johnson and Aaron Wiggins in double figures. Johnson led the team in scoring with 26.

Defensively: The Rockets athleticism and size was an issue for the Hawks. Houston was able to get open looks from three, shooting 40 percent. Houston was also able to take advantage of matchups near the paint. Kevin Durant led the team in scoring with 22. Alperen Sengun was a problem as well, scoring 17 to go along with 10 rebounds.

Mainly the Hawks had issues with shooting from three, they had a few miscues that could have led to points. They struggled to defend the wing and get through screens.

Atanta will face the Houston Rockets again on Monday, October 26th.

After spending the greater part of four season with the San Antonio Spurs, Jeremy Sochan fell out of rotation and left the team that drafted him. Shortly thereafter, he joined the New York Knicks and won an NBA Championship.

Over the summer he signed with the Portland Trail Blazers, but was waived just before the season tipped off. Coincidentally, he was released on the same day Blake Wesley and Malaki Branham, his draft mates.

But Sochan has bounced back. He went #1 overall in the G-League draft on Saturday.

While the G-League may be a step down for a lottery pick with less than five seasons, staying in America with an NBA affiliate keeps him closer to the action. No telling where his career could go as the twists and turns of an 82-game NBA season rolls on.

For now, the former Baylor Bear will stay in Texas.

Best wishes, Jeremy.

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Joe Mazzulla has used 11 players in each of the Celtics’ first two games, which sounds democratic until you inspect the timecards.

Everybody has checked in, but that doesn’t mean everybody has a full-time job.

Jayson Tatum, Derrick White and Paul George have predictably played the most. Payton Pritchard is fourth in total minutes despite coming off the bench. Sam Hauser has logged more minutes than Jordan Walsh and Mitchell Robinson, two members of the starting lineup. Hugo González has played just 13 minutes.

Two games are not enough to settle Boston’s rotation, but they do give us some clues about how Mazzulla is sorting it.

The same five players started against Detroit and New York: White, George, Tatum, Walsh and Mitchell Robinson. Everything after that has been more fluid. The first week has already exposed a few levels of trust. Pritchard’s bench designation looks increasingly cosmetic. Hauser may be the cleanest solution to Boston’s spacing issues. Among the young wings, meanwhile, the minutes have not been distributed equally.

Here are my biggest takeaways from Joe’s rotations through the first two games.

Pritchard is a bench player in name only

Pritchard explained his definition of a starter after practice last Sunday.

“To me, a starter is the amount of minutes you play,” he said. “Do you finish games? Are you playing 30-plus minutes? Then you are a starter.”

By his own math, Pritchard is starting.

He has played 57 minutes and 56 seconds through two games. Only Tatum, White and George have played more. Against the Knicks, Pritchard scored a measly four points on 1-for-6 shooting, but still remained on the floor for more than 30 minutes.

I’m not going to try and spin his four points as a secretly great performance. He missed five of his six shots and never found an offensive rhythm. But cold shooting nights can reveal more about a coach’s confidence than another three-point avalanche. Any reasonable person would leave Pritchard on the floor while he’s setting fire to the net. Mazzulla stayed with him even when he wasn’t.

Single-game plus-minus can tell lies with a straight face, but Boston still outscored New York by eight points during Pritchard’s 30 minutes. It wasn’t Pritchard’s night, but it wasn’t a problem large enough to lose a game, which is probably the distinction Mazzulla cares about most.

The Celtics opened the second quarter with Pritchard, White, George, Hauser and Luka Garza. Tatum rested while George carried the star responsibilities. Boston started the fourth with almost the same construction, swapping Robinson in for Garza.

Pritchard was the constant. He is becoming the connective tissue between Boston’s different versions of itself.

His closing role was more situational. Mazzulla initially went with Tatum, George, White, Hauser and Queta during crunch time. Pritchard returned for Hauser with 1:11 remaining, giving Boston another ball handler and free-throw shooter. He made one at the line, then was replaced by Queta for the final defensive possession.

That wasn’t one permanent closing five we saw Friday night. Mazzulla was changing the group possession by possession, which is probably how this roster should work.

Pritchard may not always be standing on the court when the game ends, but he’s made it clear that he’ll be plenty involved in getting Boston there.

Hauser keeps solving lineup problems

Hauser has played 40 minutes and 52 seconds, six seconds more than Robinson. That isn’t a meaningful statistical gap, but it’s a pretty useful reminder of how little the starting label matters to Mazzulla.

He has made five of his first 10 three-point attempts after shooting 39.3% from deep last season, the worst mark of his career and still a percentage most players would happily tell their grandkids about down the road. His shooting stretches the floor in ways Boston needs, particularly when Mazzulla uses Queta or Robinson at center.

Those big men provide vertical spacing, offensive rebounding and rim protection. Neither one is naturally dragging a defender away from the paint. Hauser gives those groups oxygen.

The best example came against Detroit. White, Hauser, Tatum, George and Queta turned a 39-39 game into a 57-43 Celtics lead in roughly five minutes. That lineup produced a 172.7 offensive rating and a 136.4 net rating, which are hilarious numbers that should not be treated as remotely sustainable. The part worth taking seriously was the fit. Four shooters surrounding Queta gave everyone room to operate.

Mazzulla returned to the same idea against New York.

Hauser opened the fourth quarter alongside Robinson, Pritchard, White and George. Later, with the Knicks threatening, Mazzulla used Hauser next to Queta in a lineup with Tatum, George and White.

The shooting explains why Hauser fits, but his defense might be why Mazzulla can keep turning to him.

Hauser still gets hunted occasionally because opposing stars see a white guy with a sensible haircut and make certain assumptions. Those assumptions have not produced easy baskets as often as expected. According to NBA tracking data from last season, opponents shot 0.7 percentage points below their expected field-goal percentage when Hauser was the closest defender.

He is sturdy enough to survive switches, rarely wanders away from the scheme and has become good at forcing scorers into shots the defense can live with. Nobody is asking him to turn into Scottie Pippen. He just can’t be the loose thread every offense tries to pull.

That combination of competent defense and elite shooting allows Mazzulla to place him almost anywhere without creating an obvious problem at either end.

Queta did make his only three-point attempt against New York, so Hauser should probably keep an eye on his job. Queta is currently shooting 100% from deep, and I refuse to entertain any small-sample-size arguments at this time.

Until Queta starts receiving the same treatment behind the arc, Hauser gives Mazzulla a proven shooter without handing opposing offenses an obvious place to attack.

The young wings are not receiving equal auditions

Walsh, Scheierman, González and Ron Harper Jr. entered the season as Boston’s collection of young wings. The first two games have not treated them as interchangeable.

Walsh has started both games and played 33 minutes and 45 seconds. His offense remains a work in progress, but Mazzulla has given him difficult defensive assignments, including Cade Cunningham in Detroit and Jalen Brunson against the Knicks, and allowed him to play through mistakes. He also rewarded that patience against New York, hitting a three and scoring on a nice cut during Boston’s third-quarter run.

Scheierman has played 29 minutes and 22 seconds. He scored eight points in the opener, made both of his threes and already looks more willing to make a quick decision when the ball finds him. Mazzulla has used him in both halves of both games, including alongside Tatum during the third quarter Friday.

González has played just 13 minutes and 18 seconds. Only Garza has played fewer. Harper has yet to see the floor at all.

González checked in midway through the first quarter against New York, stayed on the court for three minutes and 35 seconds and never returned. His 13 total minutes are less than half of Scheierman’s and well below Walsh’s.

That isn’t a verdict on a 20-year-old two games into his second NBA season. González had a really encouraging preseason, and his size, defensive instincts and fearlessness should get him onto the court plenty as the season wears on. Boston’s first back-to-back arrives Monday and Tuesday, which may create an opportunity almost immediately.

For now, Mazzulla appears more comfortable with Walsh’s defense and Scheierman’s…Scheiermanning. The gap is worth noticing without declaring it permanent. These first two games show Mazzulla’s initial preferences with a healthy roster. They don’t tell us what the rotation will look like after a difficult back-to-back, an injury or the first time somebody ahead of González stops giving the Celtics what they need.

Garza provided a useful reminder that the bottom of the rotation can still change quickly. He entered against New York, scored eight points in three and a half minutes, made two threes, drew a charge and returned to the bench like a man who had broken into the game, emptied the register and disappeared before anyone could identify him.

Garzilla behavior.

Mazzulla will need those little bursts over 82 games, but every player producing one doesn’t suddenly move into the permanent rotation.

Right now, Walsh and Scheierman have the longer runway. González is waiting for his next opening. Harper is waiting for his first.

Tatum and George are sharing the floor, and the workload

The Celtics did not acquire George so he and Tatum could alternate isolations while everyone else watched. Through two games, Mazzulla has started working on a more useful kind of staggering.

Against the Knicks, Tatum rested to begin the second quarter while George played with Pritchard, White, Hauser and Garza. Tatum played the entire third, with George sitting for the final four and a half minutes. George then opened the fourth while Tatum rested.

At the 6:53 mark, Tatum replaced George. Just over two minutes later, George returned and the two stars finished the game together.

The basic rhythm is beginning to emerge. Tatum and George overlap at the beginning and end of halves, then take turns anchoring the middle. Pritchard moves between both groups. White can run the offense with either. Hauser gives each of them another outlet when the defense loads up.

The arrangement should keep Boston from living through too many possessions without a high-level creator. It also gives George stretches where he can operate as the primary option instead of trying to fit his touches around Tatum’s.

There will be nights when the rotation gets smaller. Injuries, foul trouble and matchups will rearrange all of this. If we have learned anything about Mazzulla, it’s that he will happily abandon Tuesday’s rotation by Thursday and seem mildly irate that anyone expected otherwise.

Still, his first two games have given us a working hierarchy.

Tatum, White and George are the foundation. Pritchard is a starter, his words, not mine. Hauser and the two centers give Mazzulla different ways to build around them. Walsh and Scheierman have received meaningful auditions. González, Garza and Harper are waiting for the game that calls for them.

There are still 80 games left. Roles will change, new lineups will emerge and Mazzulla may render half of this article obsolete by Thanksgiving. For now, we get to study two games far more closely than any reasonable person should, because Celtics basketball is finally back.

A basketball game can span over 200 shots with over 600 passes thrown and eighteen miles ran over 48 minutes. There’s a beautiful randomness to it all. But if you dig down and zoom in on every 24-second possession, there may not be anything more important than the point of attack and how it’s defended.

Jalen Brunson won Finals MVP last summer as the champs’ point of the spear, the head of their offensive snake. And in the Celtics’ first matchup against the Knicks, Jayson Tatum’s clutch play and 36 points in the home opener will deservedly grab all the headlines in the 107-103 win at TD Garden.

Jordan Walsh wasn’t even on the parquet when Tatum hit shot-after-shot-after-three-point-shot down the stretch. His work was already done.

Brunson didn’t exactly have a bad game: 19 points (7-of-17 from the field) and four assists. But he had to grind for it and sometimes, being able to just blunt the steel and defang some of the bite is a good day’s work.

“I thought he was special. He set the tone,” Paul George said of Walsh’s defense on the All-NBA Second Team point guard. “Jalen is a handful and for a young guy, he can be a lot. Jordan took the challenge. He did a great job of navigating being physical and not being overly physical. He gave him some good looks defensively to frustrate him and get him out of rhythm.”

Heading into training camp, Walsh wasn’t on many people’s bingo card as a possible starter. Some thought that Payton Pritchard would get the promotion or more of an offensive connector like Baylor Scheirman might join Tatum, George, and Derrick White. Now, through three preseason games and now two regular season games against Brunson and Cade Cunningham, it’s easy to see how the four-year player fits into the opening five’s ecosystem as the designated stopper.

After the game, George also remarked that because of Walsh’s on-ball presence on Brunson, that freed him up to be a free safety behind Walsh; including the preseason, he’s grabbed 14 steals in four games.

Walsh signed a three-year, $15 million extension over the summer. His only mistake so far has been telling head coach Joe Mazzulla that he felt like a vet in training camp. Otherwise, it’s in games and matchups like the one last night against the defending champs and Brunson that Walsh has shined in.

“[Brunson]’s a guy that can keep his dribble, he can create separation with multiple moves. I thought Jordan’s second half was important for us,” Mazzulla said. “He had a layup in transition, he had a catch-and-shoot three, he had some great defensive possessions. Even when he fouled, we need that type of physicality. I thought tonight, we saw a version of him at his best and that’s what he’s gotta be for us and he’s gotta continue to get better.”

After the game, Brunson noted that the 0-2 Knicks failed to impose their physicality on offense. Or maybe, just maybe, that’s just the Walsh effect.