Boston Celtics takeaway No. 2) White & Smart serving up success for C’s offense
The two combo guards were locked into being the head honchos when it came to playmaking and primary ball-handling duties for the Boston Celtics.
Derrick White and Marcus Smart combined for 17 of the team’s 30 assists on the evening, a feat that is both impressive and a positive trend for the C’s going forward.
The flow of the offense seems to function much better with this two-headed monster serving as key initiators.
The pair is always up to par with a jailhouse defensive approach, but if they can take off the burdens from the Jays having to bring the ball up the floor and play a de facto point guard role, then it’s a massive improvement.
White had 11 points and eight assists with zero turnovers while Smart added 12 points and nine assists with just one giveaway.
An incredible display of efficiency and recognizing the importance of valuing the possession of the basketball, especially against a Charlotte Hornets team that likes to get out and run off of forced turnovers for easy transition buckets.
The C’s had just 11 giveaways on the night which is a trend in the right direction. We’ve seen the team do this by halftime in some games like when they got in a deep hole against the Hawks earlier this month.
Both guards were positives on the night defensively and, as a whole, wound up making up for what were messy performances for the likes of Payton Pritchard and Jaylen Brown.
That next-man-up mentality is the culture the Boston Celtics are building.