The Celtics dropped the rope in their season-opening loss in Detroit, especially on the defensive end. They completely lost the ability to get a stop, allowing the Pistons to score 76 points in the second half. They forced turnovers, but they couldn’t get stops otherwise, so it didn’t really matter. At the end of the day, they gave up 121 points, which isn’t going to cut it.
But in game two, we saw Boston ramp things up on the defensive end, putting the clamps on the Knicks, while continuing to cause chaos and create turnovers. They held New York to just 103 points and also forced 18 turnovers. That included 7 steals and 4 blocks, leading to 19 points off turnovers, good for almost 20% of the Celtics’ points on the night.
Why Boston's sudden uptick in turnovers isn't a fluke
That’s a big number, and it made a huge difference in a low-scoring battle, as we saw on Friday night. In the game-one loss, Boston still forced 17 turnovers, so they’re averaging 17.5 per game through the first two games of the season, a number that would have led the league last season.
It’s a small sample size, of course, but it’s a sample against a team that won 60 games last season and the defending champions. More importantly, defensive playmaking was a clear point of emphasis this offseason, and nothing about what they’re doing feels at all fluky.
They fell apart for stretches in Detroit, but for the most part, we’ve seen the Celtics defending on a string, staying connected, doing a lot of switching, and making plays away from the ball, jumping into the passing lanes, causing deflections, and generally creating chaos for the other team to deal with.
Celtics should dominate turnover battle every game
The Celtics had an elite defense last season, finishing 4th in the league in defensive rating, but they were 29th in forcing turnovers, with just 12.4 per game. This season, they’re hoping to keep up the defensive efficiency while adding in the turnover creation, and so far, the results have been mostly promising.
Another big part of that is actually winning the turnover battle. While the Celtics only caused 12.4 per game last season, they also only coughed it up 12.4 times per game themselves, which was best in the league. Luckily, over two games, we’ve seen consistency there, as Boston has 12.5 turnovers per game this season, which leads the NBA.
Again, the sample is incredibly small, but this was the goal. If they can win the turnover battle on a nightly basis by this kind of margin, they are going to be in great shape, and that’s going to give them a huge advantage on top of a defense that is already excellent. Now, if they can just get their rebounding going, they can truly start possession-maxxing and take this thing to the next level. One thing at a time.
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