When fans see a team like the Brooklyn Nets on the Boston Celtics’ schedule, they let their guards down. Some may not even tune in. Even the Celtics, who had just played the Nets on Saturday in Brooklyn, virtually gave Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown the night off, leaving the rest of the squad to lead the way.
Outside of Cameron Johnson, D’Angelo Russell, and Nicolas Claxton, there aren’t many guys still on the Nets’ active roster who the every day NBA fan would immediately recognize. Dennis Schroder was traded. De’Anthony Melton is out for the year. Dorian Finney-Smith and Ben Simmons are gone, too.
So, on Tuesday night, a crew of Keon Johnson, Ziaire Williams, and Trendon Watford spearheaded the Nets’ efforts.
Celtics win over Nets was elite, regardless of opponent
Yet Joe Mazzulla had no interest in overlooking the team in front of him. When asked about the Nets identity prior to their slew of deadline dealings, he pushed back, noting that it still exists:
“Yeah, they still have it,” Mazzulla said pre-game of Brooklyn’s identity. “I think defensively, it's the way they pressure the ball, the physicality that they play with. Offensively, the biggest thing is their off-ball frequency. They do a great job getting creative in how they disguise some of their off-ball actions, which creates different two-on-ones.
“Having Russell out there has helped their pick-and-roll stuff. So, they're a good team, and they're well coached, and they test you a lot on the margins. Sharpe had 10 offensive rebounds last game. They outshot us by 10 in game two, eight in game three. So, they test you in those categories. We got to be great in that.”
With Jordi Fernandez at the helm, Brooklyn matched the persona that Mazzulla laid out before the game. Through the first half, the Celtics’ offense was struggling, and the Nets were up 49-44.
Boston generated a bunch of good shots by targeting mismatches in the post, but the shots weren’t falling. The Nets’ defense sprinted around the floor, sending multiple bodies at the Celtics’ ball-handlers and utilizing chaotic off-ball movement to get buckets of their own on the other end.
It was exactly as Mazzulla explained.
So, while Celtics fans may see the final result as a measly, relief-filled 104-96 win for Boston, it was so much more than that.
They needed the assistance of Baylor Scheierman to lift their offense up. They needed Jrue Holiday’s versatility as a scorer and playmaker. They needed Kristaps Porzingis’ post touches. They needed a Torrey Craig-infused small-ball lineup. They needed a strong close as the Nets attempted to battle back.
Had this game been against any other team in the NBA, it would have been one of their most impressive victories of the season. So, just because it was against a Nets team that will be in the mix for Cooper Flagg doesn’t change the fact that Boston had to fight for this one.
And that’s what matters most, regardless of the opponent.
“I don't know what people's expectations were, but that's a good basketball team,” Mazzulla said post-game. “I don't really look at the records, and they're really well coached, and they got a lot of talent and good players. So to me, I like the approach of how we handle the game.
“This team, if you've watched, I know they're like 2-9 in their last 11. 11, but they had a double-digit lead against Cleveland, a double-digit lead against OKC, gave us a tough game the other night. So, they're a good team, and we had to go to different lineups, we had to go to different things to make sure that we won.”
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