Fleeting thoughts from the Celtics latest loss
Yes the Celtics lost, but no, the sky isn't falling. There was a lot to like, and there's still a whole lot to be excited about.
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Game notes & observations
I like how Joe Mazzulla is using his double bigs on defense. The Celtics have one in drop, often around the nail, with the other in the weakside side corner, offering low helpline help defense.
The downside is that your rotating rim protection can sometimes come from the strong side if the ball gets swung at pace. Generally, you don’t want to help out of the strong side corner. But, with the amount of defensive talent in the Celtics rotation, having the ‘High I’ man sink and split the difference isn’t a deal breaker. Modern NBA defenses tend to play fast and loose with the strong-side corner rule anyway.
The below clip is from the Cleveland Cavaliers opening possession. Notice how Porzingis is up on the perimeter, where he can drop, hedge, or switch while Horford is in the weakside corner allowing him to roam off his man and rotate over to offer some weakside rim protection.
I like this because it’s similar to how Boston lines up when playing single big. They have their center around the point of attack with a roamer down low. Everyone can switch if needed, but moving into a switch 4 with 5 in drop system is easy. It’s hard to attack a defense that can morph in and out of coverages on a possession-by-possession basis.
Tough night for Jrue Holiday. He went 2-of-9 from the field and 0-of-3 from deep. Holiday has been navigate somewhat of an offensive drop off over his 19 games this season. After being one of the best corner three-point threats last season, hitting 60% he’s down to 29% in the current campaign.
Holiday has also seen his success from the short mid-range drop to 35% from 47%.
Still, Holiday is finding other ways to make an impact. He’s defending his ass off. He has shown growth as a short-roll threat and is finishing better around the rim (70%) and from long mid-range (67%).
Mazzulla preferred Luke Kornet to Neemias Queta for this one. Felt right. Kornet ended the game with 3 blocks in 8:41 of playing time. He also had some strong shot contests and kept the ball moving on offense.
Sam Hauser keep flashing new wrinkles to his game. He’s way more comfortable attacking closeouts off the dribble, is making smart reads on the drive and kick and of course, continues to show growth on the defensive end.
Drew Peterson Gets Minutes
Peterson made a good impression during Boston’s preseason games. He was arguably the standout performer from the Celtics two-way guys, along with whoever was fighting for minutes on Exhibit 10 deals.
Since the G-League season began, Peterson has continued to impress. He entered last night’s game against the Cavaliers, averaging 19.6 points, 7.2 rebounds, 2.8 assists and 1.6 steals per game for the Maine Celtics. He’s also knocking down shots at a 33.3% clip from deep and 45.9% from the field.
Peterson drained 2-of-5 from deep last night. One came in transition and one came out of a catch-and-shoot in the corner.
Peterson played the entire second quarter for Boston, doing enough to earn another six-minute stint in the third. I was high on Peterson getting an opportunity this season. I felt he did enough during preseason — and likely in training camp — to earn a closer look. Right now, it feels like he could be the next guy off the Maine production line.
“It was great to see him out there,” Kristaps Porzingis told the media. “I liked that he wasn’t shy. One of the first plays, he kind of came off (looking for his shot). We didn’t have the same firepower as usual, so we needed everybody to be aggressive. I told him right away to look for his stuff because he’s a good offensive player. Yeah, he wasn’t shy all night long. He shot his shots and played good defense... In a high-level game like this, it was really cool to see.”
I do wonder why he was preferred over Baylor Scheierman — who was Boston’s 30th pick in the 2024 draft. But when you see his movement, confidence, and shooting stroke, it makes sense.
Peterson wasn’t a slouch on defense, either. He moved his feet well, stuck with his man (for the most part) and didn’t get sucked into over-committing or over-helping. At the time of writing, Jaylen Brown and Jayson Tatum are questionable for tonight’s game against the Miami Heat. If either of them misses the game, it will be interesting to see if Peterson gets another runout or if Mazzulla rolls the dice with someone else.
Another Big Payton Pritchard 4th Quarter
Pritchard followed up his 19-point fourth quarter against the Chicago Bulls with 17 points in the fourth against the Cavaliers. Without Derrick White’s usual late-game heroics, Pritchard stepped up and almost willed his team to a second win in as many games.
Unfortunately, his scoring exploits came and went without a reward. However, he keeps stacking the total points scored off the bench, which in turn is building his overall Sixth Man of the Year case.
We looked at Pritchard’s improved scoring via contact in yesterday’s newsletter, so I’m not going to dive too deep into his exploits from yesterday’s game. However, I wanted to share the above clip, as it hits on two areas of improvement that began last season — which I also touched on yesterday: His ability to hold off defenders with his off-hand and his bump creation in the paint.
The above play highlights both of those things all within a single action. For me, his off-hand improvements are a legitimate reason why he’s become a more consistent three-level scorer. It’s easier to create space off step-backs, snapbacks or crossovers when you can hold your defender off, limiting them from feeling your movements or shutting down your space. Same with bump creation, Pritchard only needs a slither of room to create an angle and capitalize.
I love the version of Pritchard that we’ve been getting to start the season. Dude has been a killer more often than not.
KP Holds Himself Accountable
This was Kristaps Porzingis’ third game back from injury. He’s shown massive improvements in each of those outings. Yet, after the game, he held himself accountable before admitting that the Celtics have a lot of room for improvement once everybody gets back healthy.
"There were some moments when we could of extended the lead more, I think we didn't execute well," Porzingis said. "...I felt myself that I didn't play up to my level today and I was a half a step late on some situations. Didn't anticipate some things quickly enough. With the game being as close of it was, I think we have a big margin of playing better than we did today."
Porzingis isn’t meant to be running at his optimal level yet. He’s still working himself back to full game fitness. And for what it’s worth, he’s already showing improvements and giving the Celtics additional dimensions.
For someone who said he was a half-step late at times, this play wasn’t one of those moments. Really liked his read of Pritchard’s back cut and his pass to guide him into space behind the trapping defenders.
This 45-cut from Porzingis into a nail-ish jumper was sweet, too. I’ve always enjoyed watching a seven-footer act like a 6’10’’ forward when working off-ball. It’s so hard to predict what Porzingis is going to do, and even harder to stop him. Boston has been missing this sort of off-ball aggression at times.
Last week, when sharing 3 questions I had now that Porzingis was back in the rotation, I noted post frequency as one of them. Three games in, and I’m getting my answer. Porzingis has certainly had an impact on post-creation and post-scoring since returning.
Porzingis always looks comfortable when ducking into a post-up or jostling for position, and I’m generally pretty confident when he catches the ball with his back to the basket — regardless of whether he faces up, backs his man down, looks to create, or goes into a shooting motion on a fadeaway.
I grew up watching 90s basketball. There’s something about fadeaway out of the post that talks to my soul. The above shot was no different.
Thoughts on the loss
Flush it.
No Derrick White and no Jaylen Brown, playing against the top seed in the Eastern Conference. It was never going to be easy. Boston ran the Cavs right up until the final stretch.
Could they have done some things better? Of course.
Could they have executed better? Of course.
Would I have preferred slightly more interior attempts? For sure. But, the Cavaliers are a team that struggles defending and impacting the three-point line, so the approach made perfect sense.
Yes, the loss put the Celtics 1.5 games behind the Cavs for the first seed. But the sky isn’t falling. Joe Mazzulla hasn’t had a fully healthy roster at his disposal this season, not really, at least. We’ve not seen this team hit their stride yet. The fact they’re second in the East with a 16-4 record should tell us everything we need to know about what this team will do when — of if — this team gets healthy and enjoys a stretch of games together.
Oh, and by the way, the same team that hasn’t been fully healthy yet…They’re third in offensive rating, eighth in defensive rating and second in Net Rating. Imagine what happens when everyone is back, healthy and fired up to prove they’re still the best team in the league.
Fun times are ahead. One loss won’t change that. At least not for me.