Five in a row: ten Celtics/Raptors takeaways

 

 

The Boston Celtics won their fifth straight game on Friday night, defeating the Toronto Raptors. It was also the team’s second consecutive in-season tournament win, propelling them to the top of East Group C. There are two more games left in the group round; if the Celtics maintain their lead, they will advance to the next round.

The game, however, was not without controversy. The court was slippery for several players, resulting in falls, slides, bumps, and injuries. Jaylen Brown also appeared to be in pain at one point. Despite this, the Celtics earned another victory in a physical game.

Aside from the floor and the shooting woes, this was a fast-paced game filled with read-and-react offense. There weren’t many set plays, and I’ll need to watch it again to pick up on some of the cat-and-mouse tactics that both teams engaged in. So I’ve tried to make the takeaways lighthearted and nerdy.

#1 Overcoming deep-seated difficulties

 

 

Jayson Tatum shot 1-of-11 from outside the arc. Kristaps Porzingis went 0 for 3. When two of a team’s best perimeter scorers are ice-cold, the offense might suffer. Those misses would have been contagious in previous years. Poor shooting would have spread like wildfire throughout the rotation. But not this season.

Boston has an excess of scorers. They’re attacking from every angle on the court. Individual shooting issues, on the other hand, will not wreck their offense like they did last season. When the team was on a cold spell, they appeared to lean into paint touches to manufacture threes, creating defensive collapses before kicking it out for open looks.

#1 Overcoming deep-seated difficulties

Jayson Tatum shot 1-of-11 from outside the arc. Kristaps Porzingis went 0 for 3. When two of a team’s best perimeter scorers are ice-cold, the offense might suffer. Those misses would have been contagious in previous years. Poor shooting would have spread like wildfire throughout the rotation. But not this season.

 

 

Boston has an excess of scorers. They’re attacking from every angle on the court. Individual shooting issues, on the other hand, will not wreck their offense like they did last season. When the team was on a cold spell, they appeared to lean into paint touches to manufacture threes, creating defensive collapses before kicking it out for open looks.

Consider the above scenario. The Raptors took the lead in the third quarter. Boston’s shot was not dropping as quickly as we had hoped. As a result, Al Horford returns to basics. Off the dribble, he attacks a close-out, gets into the paint, draws a defender, and finds an open Derrick White. The defense had no choice but to respond. Horford can post you up, hit floaters, and read the floor like no one else.

Regardless of whether shots are falling or not, good process has become a trademark of the Celtics offense to start the season.

#2 Talking about threes

Can we just take a moment to admire the Celtics’ scoring prowess? White, Jaylen Brown, Sam Hauser (45.2% from deep), and Al Horford all made three perimeter shots. Jrue Holiday possessed two.

That’s despite two of your top three players shooting less than 10% from three-point range. Luxury does not begin to express how well-constructed the roster for this season is. Bravo, Brad Stevens. Seriously.

 

 

#3 Getting a little nerdy: “Wheel”

Yes, “Gettin’ nerdy with it” has returned. I appreciate how wacky the name is. For our first nerdy session, we’ll examine at the play “wheel.” Like most acts, there are several ways to do it, and coaches prefer to cycle through three or four possibilities. In this case, Joe Mazzulla designed it to take advantage of Tatum’s scoring gravity to open up a gap for Brown to attack off the drive.

The play is structured as follows: the Celtics set a weakside stagger screen for Tatum, who curls over both screens and moves to the strongside corner. Brown is cutting strongside to weakside across the baseline while this is going on.

Brown then receives a pin-in screen from Holiday, which locks down two defenders and creates space. White has passed to Porzingis, who then passes to Brown and completes the stagger screening action, allowing Brown to have extra space between him and his defender. Porzingis drives to the basket to challenge Jakob Poeltel, who is in the paint. Dennis Schroder is also hoping for a high tag.

On the Suns, Robert Horry had a falling out with coach Danny Ainge.

Brown dribbles to his place around the nail and pulls up for a shot.

 

 

The Raptors did a good job of defending the action. They didn’t turn any of the screens on. Instead, the collapsed to prevent a drive or roll. Nonetheless, the space created by Porzingis’ roll and the distance of the trailing defender who navigated two screens provided Brown with enough freedom to shoot. Tatum’s presence in the corner also kept the Raptors’ defense stretched.

Kristaps Porzingis (4th) defense

 

 

Porzingis had another strong defensive performance. His size and length around the rim necessitated a number of adjusted shots. He also blocked three shots on the night. My personal favorite was a block that led to an impacted shot.