Through two games, it’s important not to make sweeping generalizations about the Celtics, but there are certainly some notable and meaningful takeaways to be made. One of those, is that much as we saw last season, the Celtics have a hard time getting into their offense when their opponent ramps up the ball pressure.
When teams sit back and let Boston dictate terms and run their offense, they’re incredibly hard to stop. But when they attack the dribble of the Celtics, the team struggles to get loose, create advantages, and set up consistent offense.
It leads to overpassing, messes up the spacing, and doesn’t get the defense in rotation. We frequently see these possessions end in forced, late-clock jump shots off the dribble. Sometimes, Jayson Tatum goes hero mode, sinks a few of those shots, and all is forgotten, like on Friday night, to close out the Knicks.
Celtics struggle when they can't get into their offense
But other times, things completely stagnate, and the opposition goes on a 23-0 run, as the Pistons did on Tuesday night, when the Celtics blew a massive lead in Detroit in the season opener.
Big physical defenders can smother the likes of Derrick White and Payton Pritchard, which leads to a lot of point-Tatum possessions. There’s nothing wrong with that, and it generally leads to very efficient offense for Boston, but the Celtics can’t lean on that too heavily, as they hope to keep JT fresh for a long season and playoff run.
Joe Mazzulla and the Celtics need to find ways to get into their offense and negate some of the ball pressure that has given them fits. One option is having forwards like Paul George and Baylor Scheierman bring the ball up and initiate the offense. Both players are certainly capable, and Pritchard and White can be more effective coming off screens.
Mazzulla must get more creative with offense
Boston can certainly also get creative with freeing up their guards in the backcourt and giving them a running star, which should make Pritchard and White much harder to stay in front of. Another option is using the big men as passing and playmaking hubs out of the high post to allow guys to move around them.
The thing is, all of these ideas will require the players to simply step up and do better. Mitch Robinson and Neemias Queta aren’t Nikola Jokic. Pritchard and White aren’t Kyrie Irving. PG and Baylor aren’t LeBron. Just using other options doesn’t mean this will work. They have to change it up and execute more than anything else.
I’m not saying they have to make a big change or go out and trade for another ballhandler, but this is definitely something to monitor, because elite teams are going to pick up on this and do everything they can to impact the dribble and make life hell for the Celtics’ ballhandlers.
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