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After the Celtics’ 117-99 blowout of the 76ers on Tuesday evening, head coach Joe Mazzulla mentioned that it was one of many “greatest video games of the yr.”
“This sport confirmed a template of how groups are going to protect us and it offers us one other factor for us to follow,” Mazzulla mentioned after Boston made simply 5 three-pointers on the evening.
As a substitute of counting on their perimeter play, the Celtics drove overzealous shut outs and powered by means of defenders. They scored 64 factors within the paint and went to the road a whopping 37 instances.
Possibly they don’t want the follow.
Due to their youthful speedy personnel, groups just like the Oklahoma Metropolis Thunder (63.4 drives per sport) and Indiana Pacers (56.3) grind opposing defenses by always placing them in rotation with drive after drive after drive. Make one mistake, miss a change, or take one motion off they usually’re both difficult on the rim or kicking out to an open shooter.
The Celtics, however, averagely almost the fewest drives per sport; the Nuggets are useless final at 38.0, the Lakers are a hair above at 38.8, and Boston sits at 38.9. They’re not precisely previous or gradual; they only don’t have to exert a lot effort in creating area for a very good shot. Right here’s the kicker: the Celtics are third within the NBA in FG% off drives at 53.7% with Jaylen Brown (10.1 drives, 54.5 FG%) and Jayson Tatum (8.9 drives, 58.6 FG%) driving that quantity.
Two years in the past, pundits have been attempting to interrupt up the franchise cornerstones as a result of their expertise overlapped an excessive amount of. There was no obvious want for that redundancy. What Brad Stevens and Mazzulla has constructed since then is essentially the most lethally environment friendly pick-your-poison offense within the league. On Tuesday evening with the Philadelphia 76ers enjoying small, head coach Nick Nurse lined up Tobias Harris and Kelly Oubre throughout from Brown and Tatum respectively. Forty-eight minutes later, the Jays mixed for 20-of-34 from the sector and 21 journeys to the charity stripe.
These outcomes beg the query, “why would the Celtics stray away from one thing that they’re so good at?” Mazzulla, a math stan if there ever was one, may say that he’d fairly commerce good photographs for nice photographs, but it surely’s possible not as reductive as three being greater than two.
Possibly Mazzulla is attempting protect Tatum and Brown. With such a gifted roster, it solely is sensible to construct a system to everyone’s strengths and never simply its All-Stars.
Possibly Mazzulla is saving a extra pounding play model for the playoffs. That might make sense. The postseason is historically slower and performed within the trenches of halfcourt units. Their 2-1-2 zone is likely to be the curveball that lastly cuts sufficient in April. Driving is the 107-mph fastball they’ll go to within the clutch.
Selfishly, I hope it’s not due to math or gamesmanship. What I’ve loved about this Celtics season up to now has been the artistry of all of it and I feel that’s largely to Mazzulla’s rising affect in how they play. A few of that’s actually born out of his love of soccer. Try former CelticsBlogger and The Athletic’s Jared Weiss’ profile on Mazzulla and his adoration of Pep Gardiola for that.
However I additionally suppose that a lot of how Boston is enjoying now could be a mirrored image of not simply what Mazzulla thinks, however who he’s. Nobody would blame him if he wished his younger superstars to deal with the ball extra and take 20+ photographs an evening — that’s the recipe for MVP candidacy and when you could have a participant like that in your group, they command respect and subsequently, a positive whistle. Drive, drive, drive and also you’re going to the road for straightforward factors. One thing tells me that Mazzulla wouldn’t need to win that method although.
Since coaching camp, Mazzulla has taken a holistic strategy to group constructing. In a method, profitable might have really disguised how troublesome a course of this has all been. To a person, everyone has talked about sacrifice and respecting one another’s area. So, whereas driving could also be an efficient solution to rating, it’s usually a singular enterprise.
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