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It wasn’t excellent.
Blake Griffin noticed his first motion as a Celtic on Friday evening in Charlotte. He hit simply one in all his six photographs — a three-pointer on the prime of the arc — and coughed up two turnovers in just below 17 minutes. The 14-year veteran signed with Boston only a week in the past. He hasn’t performed a lot 5-on-5 and felt slightly sped up on the court docket, however off the court docket, Griffin has slot in effectively.
“It’s all the time slightly bizarre coming in, however these guys are nice. Teaching workers was nice; they provide you a transparent message,” Griffin told NBC Boston’s Abby Chin after ending with 7 factors, 9 rebounds, and a +8 after Boston fell in a 15-point gap.
“The depth stage of this group is off the charts. Day by day once we get to work, it’s intense. It’s not that we’re going perpetually, however these guys are locked in and no one has to inform us to be locked in. It’s refreshing.”
Griffin spent final season in Brooklyn, his second with the Nets and Steve Nash. After Kevin Durant’s commerce request this summer season that rapidly became an ultimatum and later fizzled out, Griffin appears blissful to not simply be with a contender, however a gradual group that has weathered a troublesome offseason of their very own. A part of that has been the stewardship of first time head coach Joe Mazzulla.
“Tremendous poised. He’s very relaxed,” Griffin stated of Mazzulla, who he performed in opposition to at Oklahoma in a double time beyond regulation win over West Virginia. “He is aware of the way to discuss to guys, he is aware of the way to make guys snort, however he additionally is aware of the way to get on us.”
With the Celtics down as many as 15 within the first half, Mazzulla elected to start out Griffin after halftime. Boston subsequently took a 13-point lead by the center of the fourth quarter with Griffin changing Noah Vonleh with the starters.
Griffin didn’t precisely leap over any automobiles like he did in his early Clippers days, however Boston may very well be a pared down model of the #1 total decide that made him an All-Star in Detroit three years in the past.
With Boston beginning the common season with out Danilo Gallinari and Robert Williams (and probably Luke Kornet who’s nursing a sprained ankle), Griffin might see 15-20 minutes an evening with the Celtics beginning the yr in opposition to the loaded entrance courts of the 76ers, Warmth, Magic, Bulls, and Cavaliers.
“I’m simply looking for that rhythm. Subsequent observe will probably be higher, subsequent observe will probably be higher, and maintain bettering,” Griffin stated.
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