The Celtics shot the lights out on Monday night in TD Garden, destroying the Bulls, 134-99, so it was easy to gloss over any negatives. But it should be noted that despite the offensive show, Boston still left a lot of meat on the bone as they turned the ball over a whopping 25 times against a subpar Chicago defense.
That was only the sixth time in the last 25 years they’ve had that many turnovers, and the first time since 2014. They’ve been as good as any team in the league at suppressing turnovers and taking care of the ball, but for whatever reason, on Monday night, they got sloppy.
And a lot of it just looked like they were getting sped up, being careless and loose with the ball, and still trying to gel as teammates. It does make sense after all; most of these players are fairly new to their roles, and a lot of these groups don’t have much experience together.
Celtics still look rusty and sloppy on offense
But still, 25 is an outrageous number, especially for a team that is used to leading the league in that category. And it’s not like this has been a huge problem early in the season; the Celtics had exactly 25 turnovers in their first two games combined, against much better opponents in the Knicks and Pistons.
So, it’s not a cause for concern just yet, but it’s something to keep an eye on. Winning the turnover battle is a staple of Joe Mazzulla’s system, and if they drop the ball (pun intended) when it comes to ball security, it’s going to be hard for them to be an elite offense.
Luckily, the defense was up to the challenge and forced Chicago into 25 turnovers of their own, so despite their reckless offense, they didn’t even lose the turnover battle in this one, but other opponents likely won’t be so forgiving.
Celtics haven't fully dominated the margins like they should
The key numbers to watch for the Celtics are rebounds, turnovers, and three-pointers. When they win two of those three categories, they have a good chance of winning the game. When they take all three, they’re almost unbeatable. They lost the rebounding battle in the first two games, but finally got the better of the Bulls in this one.
They also dominated from the three-point line and broke even on turnovers, which led to a 35-point bludgeoning. Through three games, we’ve seen glimpses of all the things that this team can do well, but we haven’t seen them do everything well at the same time for 48 minutes. The season is still very early, and it’s obviously not all going to click right away, but 25 turnovers is a bit eye-opening.
Overall, it’s hard to nitpick anything in a massive blowout victory, and if anything, it’s nice to know there’s still plenty of room for improvement. We’re seeing growth in every game, and that’s what’s important. But when they do put it all together and start winning on every margin, look out because the sky is the limit for this team.
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