1. Effectively, that was one heck of begin for the Boston Celtics. After a few weeks of undesirable drama, the Celtics dominated the Charlotte Hornets to get the preseason began with a blowout victory.
Boston racked up an absurd 41 assists on 48 made baskets. The Celtics additionally shot 22-of-47 on three-pointers. Total, it was a dominating effort for Joe Mazzulla’s group in his debut as Celtics head coach.
2. Jaylen Brown obtained issues off to a very good begin for Boston. He completed with 24 factors in 24 minutes. Every little thing regarded fairly clean and easy for Brown. This play reveals how far Brown has come together with his energy. He’s all the time been fast and explosive, but when he can get a shoulder right into a parallel defender even barely, Brown is gone:
Brown goes to attract a whole lot of consideration from defenses, particularly in transition and semi-transition. It is a nice learn, as Brown notices Nick Richards is up excessive on the ground, permitting Al Horford to slide in behind. Nice lefty dish off the bounce from Brown:
3. We all know what Jayson Tatum can do as a scorer. He’s nice in all sides so far as discovering his personal shot. Tatum confirmed nice progress as a passer, however he can develop much more as a playmaker.
A method Boston could make their offense hum is to make use of Tatum and Jaylen Brown extra as cutters. It is a good lower by Tatum, and he attracts a number of defenders, which opens up Marcus Good for the nook three:
Tatum’s different room for progress is as a finisher, particularly by means of contact. He can get downhill with regularity. It’s ending like this for the and-1 the place Tatum can take one other leap:
4. Grant Williams is now revered sufficient as a shooter that defenses are going to try to take that shot away from him. Meaning Williams has to have a counter past simply swinging the ball to a teammate. On this one, Williams confirmed extra on-the-move playmaking than we’re used to.
It is a good drive and go away for Noah Vonleh to get the straightforward dunk:
This was one other new look from Williams. He catches and sees the defender off-balance. There’s no hesitation as Williams drives for the lefty end:
A wing catch proper right into a pick-and-roll lob? OK Grant! We see you!
5. We talked about it above, however Boston’s tempo was ridiculous on this sport. Now, it’s simple to play with nice tempo within the preseason and early within the common season. We frequently see groups begin off enjoying quick and it peters out by the vacations. The important thing can be maintaining it up all season lengthy.
Nonetheless, the Celtics generated 84 area purpose makes an attempt in a sport the place they turned it over 23 occasions. Boston’s tempo for this sport was 108.5, in comparison with final season’s 96.6. So, if the sport felt quick, that’s as a result of it was!
Malcolm Brogdon and Derrick White have been a giant a part of Boston enjoying so quick. Right here’s Brogdon getting it up rapidly and into the enamel of the protection earlier than discovering Grant Williams for a nook three:
White is used to enjoying that Spurs pace-and-space fashion, and he discovered Al Horford for a transition triple right here:
If the celebs run the ground, these guards will discover them. Nice hit-ahead cross by White to Jayson Tatum for the and-1:
6. We talked about the turnovers earlier. And 23 was a whole lot of them. If there’s a very good signal, they have been “good” turnovers for essentially the most half. Guys making an attempt to play quick and discover teammates. There have been just a few sloppy ones, which is to be anticipated within the first outing of the 12 months. However the unforced sloppiness that grew to become an issue within the playoffs, particularly within the Finals, wasn’t actually there.
The opposite problem was defensive rebounding. Boston’s preliminary protection was terrific, however Charlotte pulled down 16 offensive boards. That’s a part of the problem with enjoying small, because the Celtics did very often. Boston will most likely play an honest quantity of smallball, particularly whereas Robert Williams is out, in order that’s an space to keep watch over.
7. We’re going to spend the remainder of the Takeaways trying on the deeper bench guys. Beginning with Sam Hauser is greater than truthful, as he was glorious. Boston is on the lookout for a shooter with measurement to exchange Danilo Gallinari. If Hauser can play like he did on this one, he’s a lock for that function.
Payton Pritchard does a very good job opening up Hauser simply sufficient right here, and Hauser lets it fly with out hesitation:
8. Noah Vonleh was the primary massive off the Boston bench. It’s essential to not learn an excessive amount of into preseason rotations, however that’s a minimum of a bit notable. This was a pleasant play by Vonleh to grasp the clock. Good faux and good stability to beat the buzzer:
9. Mfiondu Kabengele was in all places, in a great way. He’s a bit wild, however he works actually exhausting. That’s the form of man you may get behind. This form of effort is the stuff that fires everybody up:
10. Jake Layman is considered one of two native youngsters (Noah Vonleh is the opposite) preventing for a roster spot. Layman is a bit more explosive than he may look. Bear in mind the dunk over Tacko Fall a few years in the past? Anyway, it is a good rim run for the and-1:
11. J.D. Davison sees the ground higher than his school scouting report indicated. In comparatively restricted motion, he tallied 4 assists. This was a very good one, as he accomplished the tough lob to Noah Vonleh:
12. Luka Samanic and J.D. Davison are most likely going to hyperlink up rather a lot for the Maine Celtics within the G League this 12 months. If Samanic runs the ground like this, Davison will discover him:
13. The Celtics are off to a 1-0 preseason begin. Subsequent up they’ll host the Toronto Raptors on Wednesday, October 5 at 7:30 PM ET. It’s attainable that sport might characteristic Blake Griffin’s Boston debut, as he’s anticipated to signal within the subsequent day or so.
