Celtics Find Identity in Stifling Defense, Blowing Out Hawks

The Boston Celtics shone on the defensive end

Identity.

For any team, the start of the season is somewhat of a soul-searching project. You know what team you were the last time around. You know what team you want to be moving forward. For the Celtics, you would expect they’re aiming for more of the same. Time stands still for no one. Even the Golden State Warriors made slight tweaks year-on-year during their Dynasty run.

Stand still and get caught. Change too much, and you’re not doing what made you successful. It’s a balancing act.

And that’s what the start of the season is about.

You’re supposed to have some rough patches. You can’t learn if you’re stomping everyone into the ground with ease. Fortunately for Boston, there have been some difficult stretches, and questions have been asked about their transition defense.

Well, against the Atlanta Hawks, all of those questions got an answer. Boston dominated in transition on both ends of the floor. They defended at a high level. And they executed around the rim, as they took what Quin Snyder gave up and made the most of it.

Over four quarters, Boston outscored the Hawks 35-4 on the break.

Starting Neemias Queta likely contributed to Boston’s adapted style. He gives them a different presence on both sides of the floor. His motor is endless, and his size makes him an ideal lob threat and rim protector. The above play is just an example of the change in tempo we saw from the Celtics in the open court.

They didn’t dribble the ball into a half-court set. Not all the time, at least. Instead, they pushed the pace. They leaned on Queta’s rim-running ability to draw the defense a step away from the perimeter, and they executed on every scoring level.

“I’m learning new systems,” Queta said after the game. “New ways to guard, and just being impactful in different ways. The more I can develop into those skills…I feel like I can be really impactful.”

Having Queta next to Al Horford gave the Celtics size, poise and athleticism. Moreover, it allowed them to rotate on defense and use Queta’s rim protection to their advantage. The result was a dominant rearguard performance…which had Horford’s fingerprints all over it.

Neemy starts this possession by playing up-to-touch on the PnR. He gets switched onto Trae Young, but his wingspan makes the drive far from appealing. As the ball rotates, both Derrick White and Jrue Holiday find themselves taking turns as the point-of-attack defender, with White peeling onto the ball-handler after Holiday gets dislodged.

Once the ball makes its way inside, Horford is there to blow up the lob play after rotating into the paint to protect the rim.

This is the Celtics defense we’re used to. This is the defense we saw during the playoffs. Everybody hustled. They switched on contact. They rotated and covered for each other. And there were two guys with size (Tatum and Horford) both around the low help line to rotate over and help get a stop.

According to Cleaning The Glass, the Celtics held Atlanta to 46% effective field goal shooting in this game. Furthermore, they forced turnovers on 19% of the Hawks’ total possessions.

But wait! It gets better.

Boston held Atlanta to 20.8% shooting from three-point range and 64.3% shooting around the rim, despite 4-out-of-10 of the Hawk’s shots coming within four feet of the basket.

Joe Mazzulla’s team stifled the Hawks.

This defensive possession stood out to me. Not because of the block, but because of the help rotation that killed the play.

Watch how Neemy rotates into the paint toward the strong side block. As the rotation occurs, see White tag Atlanta’s big before positioning himself for a rear-guard contest — his specialty.

As the drive happens, the defense shrinks the floor, taking away an easy shooting opportunity while also suffocating passing lanes. Tough sledding for the Hawks here. They have limited options, and none of them likely look too good from their vantage point.

…I get it…I’ve shown a couple of plays. Actually, I handpicked a couple of plays. There were probably better examples to draw from, too…Still, the point stands; this was arguably the most connected defensive performance we’ve seen from the Celtics since their opening night humbling of the New York Knicks.

Defense fuelled the offense. It controlled the tempo of the game.

How much of this performance can be attributed to Neemy’s inclusion in the starting lineup will certainly create some debate among the fanbase. He’s been a true X-Factor off the bench. His production last night gave Robert Williams vibes. A true game-changer on both sides of the floor.

I’d caution about getting too high or low on him so early. He’s still young. He’s going to have some tough nights. But I would be lying if I didn’t admit that he’s fun to watch and has a much higher ceiling than many of us expected. He’s made some leaps over the summer.

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Bit of a shorter newsletter today. Had a few days off as I caught up with quota’s elsewhere. Learned my lesson. Will keep on top of those moving forward.

Let me know what you thought of last night’s game!