The Celtics currently have the league’s 18th-ranked offense. That's not surprising because they came into this season with questions and they’ve already seen injuries sap any continuity they’ve been trying to build.
There are a lot of things they need to do to fix the offense, and some of them will take time. But there’s one simple thing they can do to generate a few easy buckets every night.
Cut to the basket.
It’s one of the most basic things a player can do, but the Celtics rarely do it. If I’m a player hoping for more touches, the first thing I’m thinking of doing is making backdoor cuts. It’s super easy to do, especially from the corners when Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown have the ball.
Yes, you want to space the floor, but also, the first thing any team wants is layups, and whenever Tatum and Brown are drawing attention, cutting to the basket will be an easy way to get passes from them and score some points.
I can even sell it this way: Do you [insert Celtics role player name here] want to contribute to Tatum and Brown making an All-NBA case? Then you should cut to the basket more so they can get more assists.
Tatum averaging 29 points, 9 rebounds, and 3 assists is not as good as him averaging 27 points, 9 rebounds, and 7 assists. Cut to the basket, score a few points, get some assists for your best players, win some games.
IT’S A WIN-WIN-WIN SCENARIO!!
And cuts aren't just for role players ...
The Celtics have been blessed with two very good passers in the frontcourt. Robert Williams, especially, has a knack for dropping some wicked dimes. That cut by Brown needed a sweet finish to go down, but it was still an attempt at the rim.
Check out this ridiculous pass from Rob to Dennis Schröder:
I don't want this pass from Robert Williams to be lost in the shuffle. Haven't seen too much of this from Rob so far this season. C's need to do a lot more cutting off Rob & let him find them pic.twitter.com/I2QcFgzNEs
— John Karalis 🇬🇷 (@RedsArmy_John) October 25, 2021
He can really sling it. It’s a special skill and the Celtics have been wasting it at the start of this season. The team talks about playing to their strengths all the time, and Williams’ passing is a strength. They need to use it.
We would like movement, it depends on the situation,” Ime Udoka said on Monday. “We have put in cutting off post-ups, cutting off isolations. We feel we’re too stagnant off the weak side at times. If you hear me during games I’m constantly telling the weak side to move and not stand around.”
According to NBA.com tracking data, the Celtics cut 6.4% of the time, smack in the middle of league rankings. They’re a few notches lower in points per possession off those cuts at 1.26, which nets them about 9.8 points per game.
By comparison, the Golden State Warriors lead the league with 20.7 points generated by cuts. The Philadelphia 76ers are last at 3.3.
“We had some nice cuts (in Houston) for drop-offs, Marcus (Smart's) and-one and some of those other plays,” Udoka said. “We talk about tandems in our four-out spacing - a tandem on ball-side, a tandem on weak-side to shift the defense, and is something we’re constantly working on.”
This is the play he was talking about
The Celtics want to play a more attacking style, and a teammate getting into the paint from the baseline like Schröder did there is a great time to make a cut because paint touches inherently draw attention. Just look at all the Rockets defenders focused only on Schröder.
The Celtics run a lot of action on the sidelines that ends up with baseline drives. These are perfect opportunities for cutters.
Take, for example, this Brown jumper from the Toronto Raptors game.
OK, he made it, so you’re probably asking yourself “what are you complaining about, John?”
But look at how hard he had to work for that basket, and look at this WIDE OPEN CUTTING LANE FOR JOSH RICHARDSON!
So, yeah ... yay for Jaylen for being a hero and scoring an isolation bucket. He was also grimacing on his way back up the floor, probably because of the sore knee that kept him out of the next game. Again, everyone is looking at the ball here. Richardson could have easily cut and taken some of the pressure off of Brown while getting a potentially easy bucket and giving his teammate an assist.
And lastly, cuts open up second chances, which the Celtics are not great at. Look at this play from last night.
Tatum naturally draws a lot of attention (look at every Hornet watching the ball). Brown cuts and now everyone is in “holy crap” mode when he gets into the middle of the paint. So much so that they forget about Robert Williams, who is there for the easy cleanup.
The Celtics are passing up easy opportunities in every game. There are guys who are struggling who need to recognize these chances so they can get themselves easy buckets and get going.
And hey, if Richardson cut in that Raptors game and Brown waved him off, then that’s on Brown. When they sit in the film room to break that play down, it’d be Brown’s fault for passing up an easy paint touch.
Paint touches are gold in the NBA. They lead to so much good offense because defenses can’t help but overreact. Cuts don’t have to lead to baskets, they can lead to a kick out to the opposite corner for a 3-pointer, or a foul, or, if we’re feeling frisky, another cut on a give-and-go.
Boston can’t keep missing these chances. Their offense isn’t good enough to waste opportunities, and that’s exactly what every missed cut is for this team.
