Mazzulla Ball has evolved quite a bit since Joe first took over as the Boston Celtics head coach back in 2022. The most noticeable wrinkle in the strategy is the three-ball. It used to be that Boston would assemble a murderer's row of snipers and just accept that off-nights were going to happen every now and again, hence were part of the process.
Over the past year or so, however, we have seen the Celtics create the failsafes for when the threes aren't falling. Last year, their offensive rebounding as a team kept their offense elite despite no Jayson Tatum for most of the season. Signing Mitchell Robinson signaled that that facet still matters to them very much, despite his struggles.
A new factor has been introduced into Mazzulla Ball this season: forcing turnovers. Last season, Boston was among the very worst teams at doing that, forcing 11.9 TOs a game, ahead of only Denver. Three games into the season, they are clearly emphasizing rectifying this issue.
Three games into the season, they forced 17 turnovers on Detroit, 18 turnovers on New York, and 25 on Chicago last night. That makes them tied for averaging the third-most forced turnovers in the league, behind only Toronto and Atlanta.
The Celtics may be only 2-1, but it's clear that they believe that implementing this new strategy will be key in helping them reach their potential as a team. Limiting the amount of possessions their opponents get will be the key to winning as many games as possible.
Now if only they can limit the turnovers they surrender
Forcing as many turnovers as possible should help the Celtics win as many games as possible, but what will hurt them is how many turnovers they create for themselves on the other end. The Celtics coughed up the ball 25 times last night. Granted, it wasn't much of a problem in the end, but that can't happen if they're serious about going on another extended playoff run.
Forcing a lot of turnovers can be great, but that's not the goal in a nutshell when trying to use it to win. It's about winning the turnover battle. Forcing turnovers while also taking care of the ball on the other end can tip the scales, even when the opponent is hitting everything in sight.
Luckily, Boston's turnovers have not been due to carelessness. It's simply been trying to make the right play, and unfortunately, it's not being executed. A fair amount of it has been Robinson and Paul George. That's not calling them out. In fact, it's a good thing that they are partly responsible because they are new and need time to adjust. There's reason to hope that they can iron that out.
If and when they do, the Celtics will become even more dangerous.
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