Winning Ugly: Celtics move to 3-0 with win v/ Pistons

The Celtics move to 3-0, but they were made to work for it!

🫖 Taylor’s Tea Time

☕ The Tea: Jaden Springer could be on borrowed time with the Celtics. According to Bleacher Report’s Jake Fischer, the Celtics may look to move on from the defensive-minded guard closer to the Feb. 6 trade deadline.

“What will make things a lot easier for Boston, and this is probably something that happens far closer to the February trade deadline…,” Fischer explained. “Just keep an eye on the Celtics potentially moving Jaden Springer come February to potentially open up some opportunity to bring on someone like Lonnie Walker or another back-of-the-bench minimum-salary player.”

🗣️ Taylor: I get it. Springer hasn’t sprung. He’s buried deep into the bench rotation. He needs minutes to develop. The talent and potential are there, but he’s not good enough to oust Jrue Holiday, Derrick White or Payton Pritchard from the rotation. Trading him around February could see the Celtics recoup a second-round pick and open up some roster (and cap) space to re-tool the end of their bench.

I’ve been of the belief that Walker could be a mid-season addition all summer. I’ve spoken on it multiple times. If he’s not on the board, Boston may still look to flip Springer to save losing him for nothing in the summer. You never know who shakes loose on waivers, either. Definitely something to watch.

☕ The Tea: Sam Hauser has now missed two straight games with lower back soreness.

“It’s just something that’s kinda flared up,” Hauser told the media on Oct. 24. “Kinda dealt with it on and off throughout the summer and preseason. Just trying to manage it as best as I can and just go from there.”

Joe Mazzulla provided an update yesterday.

“He’s doing pretty well,” Mazzulla said. “…Rehabbing. Getting better. He’s getting better every day. Just day by day. Just how he feels.”

🗣️ Taylor: Lower back issues are never great. They can linger. They’re not the easiest thing to treat. And they can flare up whenever they feel like it. Still, I would much rather Hauser be rested and kept out of the rotation until he’s ready to come back and play high-level minutes. There are 79 games left in the regular season. Boston has won both games that he’s missed.

There’s no need to rush him back and risk aggravating the issue. Hopefully he’s fine and is available during the stretch run and postseason. I’ve got this labeled as ‘nothing right now, but something to keep an eye on.’

🔍 Taylor’s 5 Takes

One of my favorite sports gaming franchises growing up was Fight Night. They had this feature where if a solid blow had rocked you, the game would slow down and mimic the ringing in your ears after a hard hit. Knowing another direct blow would send you to the canvas, you had to survive the moment. Generally, you had two choices: dance around or clinch up, waiting to gather before fighting back.

Both Boston and Detroit had their Fight Night moments last night. Each team hit the other with some impressive shots. And the Celtics were forced to win ugly for the second time in two games.

Here are my five talking points from last night’s game.

1. Transition Defense is something to watch

At one point, the Celtics led by 23 points. They should have been cruising to victory.

Instead, the Pistons put their foot on the gas.

I wrote about the Celtics’ questionable transition defense after their win over the Wizards on Thursday. However, the one crack in their defensive armor was back on display against the Pistons.

This is a snippet from a long-form Twitter post I have scheduled for a little later today:

“They've (Boston) defended 58 transition possessions over three games, allowing teams to shoot an eFG of 63.7%. That ranks them at the bottom of the league for guarding transition plays to start the season. 

To put this into context, teams have shot 22-of-32 from 2-point range during transition plays and 7-of-19 from deep—per Synergy. The Celtics have fouled on 10.3% of those possessions, too (around 6 of the 58 times). That equates to 1.3 points per transition possession.”

Before you say it, I know this is a small sample size. Nevertheless, transition defense was the Celtics’ biggest flaw last season. Boston also ranked 29th in transition points per possession last season, allowing 1.06 points per possession.

When a team dominates the league the way Boston did, everyone around the league will look for ways to level the playing field. Upping the tempo and testing the Celtics’ ability to limit transition buckets would appear to be the first roll of the dice. Washington and Detroit both found success here.

35.5% of the Piston’s offense came on the break. That’s more than a third of their entire offensive possessions. Jaden Ivey was giving his best Lightening McQueen impression. He lapped the Celtics’ defense whenever he got into the open court.

I keep asking myself whether Washington and Detroit pushed the pace because it was their only chance of staying in the game. We know they wouldn’t be able to hang in the half-court, and it’s not like either have them boast a genuine star to take over the game.

I worry that other contenders will take note of Boston’s limited transition defense and look to exploit it. Hopefully, we will see an uptick in how the Celtics stifle these possessions moving forward. Jrue Holiday had a great defensive possession late in the 4th quarter to prove Boston can slam the doors shut when needed.

The Celtics were a top-2 defensive team last season. We’re only three games into this year’s campaign. I’ve got no doubt they iron out any issues in the coming months and continue to be a two-way juggernaut. Still, the early cracks in defending the open court are something I’ll be monitoring moving forward.

2. A 3rd quarter swing

Detroit outscored the Celtics by 10 in 12 minutes in the third quarter. Joe Mazzulla’s team went 7-of-21 from the field and 3-of-9 from deep.

Yet, even when their shot wasn’t falling, the Celtics kept plugging away on the offensive end. We had a few plays that could have been better with an extra pass or kick-out, but for the most part, the offense wasn’t bad; shots just didn’t drop.

Still, moments like this were enough to keep you engaged and believing things could/would work out:

Even when the Celtics were going iso on the perimeter, there would oftentimes be a subtle cut, screen or re-location to create some extra space. Take a look at Al Horford’s movement in the clip below.

Horford’s ghost screen for Brown opened up his driving lane to the rim. Could the Celtics have benefited from a kick-out pass after the paint touch? Sure. Was it a bad play? Not at all. Brown drew the foul and put pressure on the rim — because, you know, shooting too many threes is bad for TV *sigh*.

When factoring in how many threes the Celtics get up, there will be some tough stretches during the game — or even tough shooting nights — how they adust will be key. Boston did a great job of pivoting off the three-point line and attacking the rim when their rhythm wasn’t there.

3. Tatum is on another level

33 points, 6.3 rebounds and 6 assists — that’s Tatum’s averages over his first three games. He’s shooting 48.6% from deep, too. Against the Pistons, we got to see more of him as a scorer rather than the complete point-forward we became accustomed to last season.

Tatum has 99 total points in 97 minutes of play so far. He’s also got 19 rebounds and 18 assists. When he plays with the type of aggression and score-first mentality shown in the above play, he’s almost impossible to stop. MVP talks won’t be far away if he keeps this level of offense up all season long.

A wrinkle that has piqued my interest in starting the season is the fact that the Celtics are running more “Ricky” for Tatum to open the season. That action is often reserved for primary scorers/play finishers. Instead, Tatum has been using it to get open before coming off screens, forcing mismatches and then putting on his playmaker cap to punish the rotating defense.

I was a little shocked that Tatum only got two assists during this game, but when you contextualize his scoring role and the defense Detroit put out there, it does make sense. Finding a way to blend this new aggression with his “complete point forward” role from last season will be interesting. If he can do it, everybody is in trouble.

4. Some good Tillman minutes

Forget what the box score is telling you. Xavier Tillman produced some solid minutes in this one. In true Al Horford-esque fashion, Tillman’s impact was felt in the margins. Smart rotations, solid screens, good positioning, and all the little details that go into winning are where you found Tillman making an impact. I’ll take that every day of the week.

The Pistons start this possession by going to a ram action. However, I want to focus on what happens when Ivey cuts along the baseline before initiating a second-side action. White is chasing Ivey on defense; however, as he comes to pop out on the perimeter, Tillman initiates a peel switch with White.

That means Tillman is now guarding the perimeter. He chose to pick up one of the fastest, shiftiest players on the floor. He contests the shot well, and it ends in a brick. Still, I’m not worried about the outcome. Instead, I’m focused on Tillman’s reading of the action and ability to execute a peel switch with minimal fuss. It was a clean, concise execution that took away any advantage Ivey’s relocation had created.

The above clip is just an example of how Tillman’s physicality can help generate space on screens. Ivey gets completely caught up as he tries to navigate over, giving Pritchard a golf course to tee up his shot and let it fly.

5. Kornet Over Neemy

In a game where Duren’s explosiveness and athleticism were causing issues around the rim, maybe Neemias Queta should have seen some playing time. Kornet struggled to make an impact. The Pistons swarmed him when he looked to create out of the short-roll. They got physical when he was around the rim. And they pushed their pick-up points when he was trying to initiate on offense.

Don’t get me wrong, there were some good moments. He had a nice pass to Tatum in the first and a solid passing lane steal not long after. But on the whole, Queta may have been the better choice to deal with Duren and the Piston’s interior game.

Queta would have provided size, physicality and a good motor when getting up and down the court. What Boston would have lost in perimeter creation (screening, DHOs, short-rolls) they would have got in rim defense, rebounding and shot deterrent.

I’m not one who believes Neemy deserves minutes simply because he’s under contract and has good size. I think everything is matchup-dependent when talking about deeper bench players. But for me, Duren and the rest of Detroit’s frontcourt were a better matchup for Queta than they were for Kornet.

📋 Coach’s Clipboard

Snap Action

Here’s how the snap action looked in real-time.

And here’s a very quick breakdown of what the action entails.

Sideline Out-Of-Bounds: Stagger Thru

Again, here’s how it looked in real-time.

And here’s a quick breakdown.

☘️ Shamrock Shorts

Derrick White’s weakside rotation for a clutch block.

You can always count on White to come up with a big-time play in a moment of need. LOVED this possession. His third swat of the night, too!

Tatum looked unguardable at times.

This is just one example of when Tatum has looked like he’s on another planet to start the season.

🏀 Rival Rundown

• I hate to say it, but the Lakers have looked great in JJ Redick’s first few games as head coach. They moved to 3-0 on their season with an impressive win over the Sacramento Kings, 127-131.

• Kevin Durant’s Pheonix Suns bounced back from a loss to the Lakers with a 114-102 over last season’s NBA Finalists — the Dallas Mavericks. Dallas are now 1-1, Phoenix is 2-1 .

• The Oklahoma City Thunder moved to 2-0 with a win over the Bulls.

• The Miami Heat are 1-1 following their 114-106 win over Charles Lees’ Charlotte Hornet’s team, which is now 1-2.

• The Denver Nuggets have gotten off to a tough start, dropping both of their opening games, which includes last night’s 109-104 loss to the LA Clippers.

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Two quick things:

1. Today’s post is open to all subscribers. This is because there will not be a Monday newsletter this week. My wife is graduating with her master’s degree, so I will be attending the ceremony and celebrating with her and my daughter afterwards.

2. I forgot about this repeatable format - thoughts? Too long? Too much going on? Great content? Keep it going? Try something else? Let me know in the comments!