Basketball is about getting buckets, and the bucket-getting is a lot easier without all those pesky defenders in your way. And since, generally speaking, they don't just get of the way out of the kindness of their hearts, it's up to ball movement and passing to clear them out of the way.
The Boston Celtics have not been a particularly great passing team. They are 28th in assists per game. They're the worst team in the NBA in secondary assists, or passes that lead to assists. They are in the bottom third of the league in total passes made.
That might change a little bit as Kemba Walker finds his game. Walker is, first and foremost, a scorer. He uses his skills to create open opportunities for himself. He is also, however, a point guard, and part of his job is to set up his teammates. Because he's no Luka Doncic or even a Rajon Rondo, Walker uses the gravity he creates as a scorer to create assist opportunities.
There is nuance to getting guys open. There are reads involved that dictate what decisions need to be made and when. Three plays last night highlight the quick decisions between shots and passes, and how defenses can be manipulated to make things easier for the guy catching the pass:
• Early in the game, Walker floated a hook-shot alley oop to Robert Williams. Walker got himself into the paint, collapsed the defense, read Alex Len's movements, and made the play.
- I'm getting into the paint
- Rob is rolling
- Len is facing me
- No one is behind Len
• Walker and Daniel Theis connected on an important stretch of baskets in the fourth quarter. This is is the first of them.
- Theis is rolling
- Isaac Bonga is a threat to challenge the roll
- How do I clear that threat?
• Walker and Theis connected a couple of plays later, and Theis got a wide-open warmup jumper out of it.
