Leftover thoughts and observations after a second viewing of the C’s season-opening win over the Sixers at the TD Garden.
1. The C’s (and especially Marcus Morris) did some great work on the defensive glass: The big worry over the last couple seasons when the Celtics went small was an inability to keep bigger frontlines off the glass. The Sixers have a ton of length up front in Joel Embiid, Ben Simmons and Dario Saric, and they had plenty of opportunities to grab offensive boards after hitting just 39 percent of their shots on the night. The Celtics were elite in this department though, limiting Philly to just five second-chance points and six offensive rebounds on the night. Marcus Morris led the way on this front with his team-high 10 rebounds. He came to Boston a couple years ago with plenty of questions about his low defensive rebounding rate, but he posted a career-best last year in that department, and last night he grabbed a sensational 53 percent of all available defensive rebounds when he was on the floor (his career average is 15 percent). Terry Rozier (eight rebounds) was his usual elite self on the glass as well, while Jayson Tatum (nine boards) chipped in plenty with his length on the wing. With the Celtics committed to going small more than ever this year, rebounding is a going to be a team effort on a nightly basis. Tuesday night was a strong step in the right direction.
2. Gordon Hayward is already showing his defensive instincts and a willingness to do the dirty work: The offensive night wasn’t pretty for the 6-foot-8 forward, particularly in his forays to the rim in traffic. Still, Hayward knocked down a few midrange jumpers in rhythm off of Aron Baynes’ pick-and-rolls (look for that combo to be used plenty all year long). The most exciting part of his performance to me though was seeing his defensive instincts in action. He spent plenty of time guarding the likes of Ben Simmons and Robert Covington and seemed to be a step ahead of both for the majority of the night while piling up a career-high four steals.
Hayward also continually showed a willingness to get his hands dirty in the paint, fighting for extra possessions on the offensive glass (2 offensive boards). If the Celtics stay small to start games, they are going to need to find some scrappiness within that group. Hayward looks to be willing and able to step up on that front.
3. Terry Rozier continued his abuse of the Sixers bigs in mismatches: Tatum got the majority of the attention after the game for his highlight reel buckets, but Rozier’s soft touch on pull-ups in mismatches throughout the second half was just as deadly.
Terry Rozier, smooth with the handle! #KiaTipOff18 #CUsRise @NBAonTNT pic.twitter.com/h9cFEbCjCu
— NBA (@NBA) October 17, 2018
Terry Rozier & Marcus Morris combine for 27 PTS off the bench in the @celtics victory! #CUsRise #KiaTipOff18 pic.twitter.com/GRmeIhUwzH
— NBA (@NBA) October 17, 2018