Wednesday’s preseason finale against the Toronto Raptors gave Boston Celtics fans the first real sample of what’s to come this season. After three preseason games, the Celtics finally faced off against another team’s starting group. Through 24 minutes, they’ve looked pretty sharp.
Hugo Gonzalez might be for real
Celtics rookie Hugo Gonzalez is on track to put a memorable final stamp on his first preseason as a Celtic. He continued to put pressure on Mazzulla to find him a spot in the regular-season rotation with another impressive two-way display.
Gonzalez proved that he can hang on defense even against Toronto’s starters. He wasn’t afraid to pressure the ball and refused to give up any easy buckets.
Offensively, he held his own, too. He finished a layup through traffic after using a slick spin move to get himself to the cup, then drilled a corner three a few minutes later. Making the most of these low-usage opportunities should open the door for him to play a real role on this season’s squad.
In less fun news, Jaylen Brown may have tweaked a hamstring. According to the Celtics, he’s doubtful to return with left hamstring tightness.
The starters can hang on the glass
Joe Mazzulla rolled out a starting five of Payton Pritchard, Derrick White, Jaylen Brown, Chris Boucher, and Neemias Queta, and the crew did not disappoint. They quickly built a seven-point lead before the first TV timeout.
So far, the Cs have not only proven that they can compete (not that there were major doubts) against top-level NBA players, but also have shown significant improvement on the glass.
Through three games, Boston ranked 28th amongst NBA teams in defensive rebounding percentage.
In correlation, they allowed the fifth-most field-goal attempts and third-most three-point attempts per game. Fortunately, opponents were only 32.9% from the field and 19.5% from deep against them.
In these first 24 minutes against Toronto, it’s been a different story. The Celtics actually hold a 26-25 advantage on the boards over the visitors at the break.
Neemias Queta has arrived
Boston’s gotten some inspired performances to this point, too. Neemias Queta seems to have finally found his footing after a rough start to his preseason campaign. The big man played a strong role in the improvement on the glass with six early rebounds. Even if he wasn’t securing a board, Quetta was sure to box out his man, as Mazzulla has been imploring his guys to do over the past week.
On top of that, the Portuguese center set great screens to free up his teammates and even got in on the scoring with some nice finishes inside.