The rationale for the Boston Celtics' strategy this offseason was to go all in on Mazzulla Ball. In other words, they had sunk their nails into possession-maxing. It could be boiled down to winning three specific battles in 48 minutes of basketball.
-Three-point shooting (everyone has known this for years)
-Rebounding
-Turnovers
This was on both sides of the ball, meaning hitting more threes than their opponent (making the most of their possessions), getting as many offensive rebounds as possible while limiting their opponents' offensive rebounds, and forcing as many turnovers as possible while limiting their own.
Even if Boston had an off night shooting-wise (like last night, for example), their strategy was to implement these fail-safes in case that happened. Now, we're seeing results. Hoopology's Justin Pinnix confirmed all the teams that have a rebound percentage of 50% or more, an opponent turnover percentage of 17% or more, and a three-point percentage of 38% or more.
13 NBA teams have achieved one of these statistical categories to start. Four have achieved two of them. Only one has achieved all three: the Boston Celtics.
Their schedule has been a bit of a breeze to start, but even so, this is concrete proof that Mazzulla Ball is working at throttle. Boston is 10-2 and has won in different fashions, from blowouts against tough competition like Philadelphia to nail-biting overtime victories against weaker competition like Brooklyn.
The point of Mazzulla Ball is not to dominate the game period (though that would be the preference), but to dominate the margins so that whether the Celtics are red-hot from three or not, they'll still get the win.
And there's room for improvement
The Celtics don't need to play perfect basketball. Again, that's why Mazzulla's philosophy is important. It's supposed to help compensate when their shots aren't going down. It's just that, man, there are still various ways for the Celtics to get even better.
Mitchell Robinson has needed some time to get himself acclimated. We're seeing more signs of life from him over the past few games, so if he regains his status as an all-time offensive rebounder - and he's got plenty of time to do that - that rebounding percentage goes up even higher.
Jayson Tatum has looked awesome, but his flashy play has overshadowed his downturn as a shooter - shooting 41.3% from the field and 30.6% from three - so if he picks it up from there, Boston's three-point shooting as a team should get even better. Same goes for Derrick White (shooting 33.3% from three) and Payton Pritchard (36.5%).
The Celtics are forcing turnovers, but they haven't been that great at preventing turnovers, either. They are tied for 10th in turnovers committed per game at 14.7. If they can limit those going forward, it only further enhances their possession maxing.
No one should be complaining because this start has been all-around awesome. It's just scary to think the team hasn't reached its full potential while still dominating at the same time.
Add us as a preferred source on Google