LAS VEGAS — A six-hour flight separates the Charles River-enveloped TD Garden and the dry heat that engulfs UNLV’s campus in Las Vegas. That journey separates the Boston Celtics, gearing up for an unusual, Jayson Tatum-less season, and the Matt Reynolds-led group fighting for Summer League success.
Despite the teams’ differences, the two versions of the Celtics are connected. Reynolds has been a constant presence in Boston for 12 years, rising up the ranks from film-room assistant to assistant coach (and now, Summer League head coach). July may have alternative motives for the Celtics, but the Thomas & Mack and Cox Pavillion games provide very valuable lessons.
Reynolds said as much on Saturday afternoon.
Summer League Celtics experimentations and exploitations
“Yeah, a little bit,” Reynolds said, regarding the Summer League Celtics testing strategies out for the big club. “I'd say, on both sides of the floor, there are a couple things we're at least taking a cursory look at.”
The Vegas Celtics have thrown around a few ideologies of note. Hugo Gonzalez, Baylor Scheierman, and Max Shulga sent full-court pressure at ball-handlers. Scheierman and Jordan Walsh have gotten plenty of reps coming off screens. Amari Williams continued to master the art of the backdoor pass.
Though the cast of characters will look different in Boston, the lessons will transfer. “You want to at least take a look at it,” Reynolds said of the backcourt ball-pressure, specifically.
But while the sandbox that is Summer League certainly provides the Celtics with extra tape, court-time, and practice, it’s not the same.
Not because of the location, time of year, or even the level of competition. Because of the game itself.
“The style of play and the rules are such a different game, to a degree, with the different fouls and the shorter game and each team having 10 per quarter,” Reynolds explained. “So, there [are]so many differences there, [to the point where] we feel compelled to play to those rules while we're in that game that don't quite translate to the NBA schedule.”
That’s where Reynolds gets creative.
Summer League basketball isn’t the same as NBA basketball. Twenty-thousand-person arenas are swapped for college and AAU-style gyms. Twelve-minute quarters move to 10.
The 15-minute halftime break, used for commercial breaks and studio-style analysis, is replaced with an eight-minute break, during which players move behind curtains in both corners of the auditorium.
But the rules change, too. And the Celtics haven’t wasted the chance to exploit the different rule set. “Yeah, a little bit,” Reynolds said when asked if the Celtics have tried to game the system. “Absolutely.”
One of the most unique differences coincides with one of Boston’s most prominent Summer League experiments: Increased full-court pressure.
At the NBA level, the opponent enters the bonus after four team fouls are committed in a single quarter. And players foul out after six personals. Both of those numbers balloon when the NBA moves to Vegas each July.
Rather than the bonus beginning after four team fouls in a quarter, Summer League pushes that number to 10. The same applies to a player fouling out; the line increases from six fouls to 10.
Like the NBA, the rule regarding bonus free throws changes in the last two minutes of each quarter, as the second foul in that time frame sends the opponent to the charity stripe. But until that point, the Celtics have taken advantage of Summer League’s more relaxed foul rules.
“The bonus is still the second foul in the last two minutes,” Reynolds said. “So, our guys have been more aggressive until we get to the last two minutes of each quarter. So, if we've done a good job of staying out of foul trouble, our guys have been very aggressive, going for steals under four, under three, up until that two-minute mark.”
Winning is still the priority. Boston’s Vegas squad went 3-1 and will play a consolation game on Sunday against the Atlanta Hawks. But hidden amidst the goal of victory is the Play-Doh that is Summer League, where rule exploitation and regular-season experimentation peek out from behind the curtain.