Five takeaways from the Celtics' 107-106 preseason win over the Hornets

A mix of analysis and observations after the Celtics opened up their preseason with a 107-106 win over the Hornets. 

Jayson Tatum is living up to his word when it comes to shot selection

A lot of the Celtics’ future falls on the third-year forward in the wake of Kyrie Irving’s departure. The addition of Kemba Walker (12 points, 4 assists in a ordinary Boston debut) will provide some of the firepower that Irving left behind but it will be on Tatum to take a big next step in his game if the C’s hope to reach title contention again in the foreseeable future with this core. A lot of that progress begins with Tatum’s offense and shot selection. He needs to be smarter with his attempts (3s and layups instead of midrange) and he was open about that in the first week of training camp. That talk held up in the preseason opener as he scored an efficient 20 points on 8-of-14 shooting from the field. The more encouraging part of his night? Where on the floor those shots were coming from, with 12 of 14 coming from beyond the arc or in the paint.



“Without looking at stat sheets and everything else, I think he did a really good job,” Brad Stevens said. “I thought he attacked when it was appropriate to attack. I thought he shot the 3 without hesitance, which is really important. He is—the 3 will open up his drives, open up his opportunity at the rim, and opens up his opportunity to go to the foul line. That’s the one thing we told him today when we met. You’ve got to throw all the narratives out about getting to the foul line and shooting 3s and just make the right play, because if you do that, everything else takes care of itself. When you’re open, shoot it. When you’re not, drive it.”

The Celtics offense wasn’t a problem with the regulars until the start of the third quarter but Tatum did his job in showing off a matured offensive mindset. No more unnecessary 1-on-1 midrange isolation ball was in the cards tonight and the Celtics’ offense was better for it.

The Celtics’ defense has A LOT of work to do

Danny Ainge hinted at a lot of question marks about the Celtics' frontline in his state of the union on Saturday and those remarks foreshadowed a pretty horrific night from Bostons’ regulars from a defensive standpoint. The Hornets are expected to have one of the worst offenses in the NBA and they easily put up 63 points in the first half despite a tough shooting start from 3-point range. Resistance at the rim was almost non-existent as the C’s worked through a number of different possibilities at center. Rob Williams was overeager early and overhelped too much, leaving his teammates exposed. Enes Kanter lived up to his limited resistance reputation in the paint. Small-ball five did not work until the fourth quarter and Vincent Poirier played an uneventful nine minutes.

“I think we’ll look at the film,” Gordon Hayward said of the defense. “Certainly, we have to be better on the weak side. They were getting into the paint pretty much at will. We’ll have to look at it. That’s why it’s preseason. You try to clean those things up. Certainly a lot of things we can improve on. That’s why you play the games and look at the film and get to work.”

With so many new faces on the roster, Kemba Walker knows that the team is going to have to build a lot of trust together to get where they need to be.

“I think chemistry is a huge part of that,” Walker said of improving the defense. Being accountable with each other and getting to know each other. … I think that we understand that we have to figure out that end. We’re not the biggest team in the world to begin with, so we’re going to have to get stops.”

The Celtics do have some additional options that were inactive on Sunday. Daniel Theis (flexor strain) has two years of experience under his belt and showed flashes of solid defense (when he wasn’t overfouling). He lacks the true size at 6-foot-8 that the C’s need to anchor the paint but he was a better alternative that almost all the options we saw at center from a defensive standpoint. This is going to be an uphill climb for Boston all preseason long to make themselves passable at this end of the floor in the preseason opener.

Gordon Hayward looked better but he may be banged up

The veteran swingman was steady over his 22 minutes (9 points, 3 rebounds, 3 assists) in the preseason opener as he showcased better aggression towards the rim than the Celtics saw from him last season. However, a hit to the left elbow ended up his night early as he pulled himself from the game in the third quarter.

“I don’t know,” Brad Stevens said. “It happened in the first half, it’s hard to bend it or straighten it all the way. Then in the second, I thought it would loosen up, it didn’t really loosen up. Something happened in the first half but we’ll work on it. It definitely is sore right now but we’ll work on it the next couple of days.”

With no major concerns about Hayward’s long-term status, the goal for him now simply seems to be building up some endurance for the 82-game grind.

“Still gotta get my legs underneath me. I would have normally dunked the one of the fast break but I was way too tired,” Hayward said of one layup in the first half. “I’m going to have to improve that. It was certainly good to get out there and make some explosive moves to the basket.”

The Celtics’ rookies are going to push for minutes early

We saw some of the Celtics summer league chemistry carry over in the preseason debut for several rookies on the roster. Grant Williams and Carsen Edwards established themselves as key pieces in that group and both looked sharp In rotation minutes on the Garden floor, particularly in the second half. Edwards scored 11 points off the bench including three from beyond the arc as he showcased a quick release and an ability to create space for himself off screens. Williams struggled with his shot (2-of-7) but still made a number of winning plays in the affair including a charge in the final minute.

A more seasoned rookie in 26-year-old Javonte Green also made a name for himself as he challenges for the 15th spot on the roster. The swingman threw down four dunks and drilled a 3 on the way to 15 points in just 10 minutes against the Hornets’ deep reserves. He’s known for his defense and athleticism over his shooting but he looked like he belongs in the NBA on this night and perhaps may end up being in the conversation for rotation minutes if he continues this kind of production.

“This was amazing,” Green said of his debut at the Garden. “This is my first NBA game that I've ever been to, even to watch or spectate. To play in front of people at the TD Garden was an amazing feeling. You just want to go out and play your hardest for the fans.”

With so much up in the air in the rotation beyond the C’s top five players  (Brown, Smart, Tatum, Walker, Hayward) anything is in play right now for the second unit with this group. The early indicators are that some rookies will find their way into the mix, especially given the struggles of Semi Ojeleye (1-of-6, 2 turnovers) and Brad Wanamaker (three missed layups) in night one. The next few preseason matchups will be crucial in that regard.

The Garden may riot if Tacko Fall does not make the roster

After five ‘We want Tacko’ chants broke out over the first three quarters at the TD Garden, Stevens finally relented and put the 7-foot-6 rookie on the floor for a good chunk of the fourth quarter. Like summer league, Fall held his own against an undersized Hornets frontline, adding five points, three rebounds and two blocks while creating a playoff-like atmosphere at the Garden with excitement for any time he touched the ball.

“I just talked to Tacko about it,” Stevens said of the hoopla. “Tacko is such a gracious guy, and it puts him in such a tough spot, right? He knows he doesn't want to put extra heat on me. Everybody wants Tacko. My kids are the same way, and everybody else. I think that's cool, and that's great, but I just hope people continue to appreciate him for what he is as a person and how hard he's working to try to make it to the NBA. Because he's a really good kid and he's really, really working hard, and I think he's going to be in the NBA for a long time.”

To his credit, Fall did not get caught up the hysteria. The Celtics played well (plus-5) when he on the court and while he was not tested on the perimeter, he delivered some rim protection that was mostly absent for the first three quarters.

“I feel like I did my job,” Fall said. “I went in there, did what I need to do defensively, and whenever Coach called my name offensively. Just stay patient, just kind of do whatever I was supposed to do. I was just trying to go out there and not try to do too much. I know with adrenaline pumping, sometimes you tend to try, but I was just trying to stay locked in the whole time.”

It’s still going to be an uphill climb for Fall to play his way onto this 15-man roster, particularly with the way guys like Green looked tonight. However, there is no question that Fall is the biggest star on this team right now in the eyes of the fans. That’s doubtful to have any impact on Danny Ainge’s final decision with him but the guess here is someone around the league will pick him up if he’s let go, if only for marketing purposes. Given the C’s question marks at center, he is probably worth grooming for some situational work. For now, it’s going to be a fun ride for the next few weeks this preseason as he becomes the main attraction as a 15th man.