The Boston Celtics are hoping this past road trip was the beginning of a turnaround. The Celtics went 2-1 and easily could have been 3-0 had Luka Doncic not ... well ... nevermind.
They’ve been doing it with their defense, which briefly moved into the top 10 overall after the win in Miami. It has generally been active, communicative, and fairly precise.
“Like I mentioned early in training camp, some things that we were asking them to do early were probably not natural for all of them,” Ime Udoka said. “So we knew it was gonna take some time. But you just gotta keep working.”
After the first five games of the season, Boston had a defensive rating of 110.6, 22nd in the league. They were also in the bottom third in the league in opponent points per game off turnovers (18.6), second-chance points (13.6), opponent fast-break points (15), and points in the paint (51.6)
This stands to reason. The points off turnovers and fast-break points stats are married. They’re often layups, as are second-chance points, which is why the points in the paint were so high.
In their last five games, however, the defensive rating is 101.6, good for seventh in the league. The points off turnovers have dropped significantly to 11.4 per game, best in the NBA over that stretch. Similarly, Boston is in the top five in opponent second-chance points (10) and fast-break points (8.4). They are ninth in opponent points in the paint (41.6) over the last five games
“The thing that's really been impressive is the team defense,” Udoka said. “The rotations behind it have really stepped up, us showing the crowd, shifting, keeping guys from the rim, and then everybody covering each other's back. ... Even in the games we lost, we played really well and just had some breakdowns offensively. So we feel good about it even in the losses.”
The first chance to see where this improved defense really stands comes Wednesday against Toronto. They walked into the TD Garden in the second game of the season and ran all over Boston. They got to the rim at will, scoring 58 points in the paint and 22 fast break points, demolishing Boston’s horrific transition defense. In fact, here’s the percentage of shots at the rim Boston was giving up over the first four games:
- New York: 38.9%
- Toronto: 31.9%
- Houston: 36.1%
- Charlotte: 34.5%
If there’s any one stat that can capture the effectiveness of Boston’s defense it might be this one. Over the last four games, the percentage of opponent shots at the rim have been dramatically reduced.
- Chicago: 28.1%
- Orlando: 24.7%
- Miami: 17.5%
- Dallas: 21.7%
Boston has been stopping teams from getting to the rim quite well lately. Part of that has been limiting opponent transition opportunities while also playing significantly better help defense.
A lot has been made of Al Horford blocking shots, but the Celtics are also getting better rim protection from their wings. The best example of that is this Josh Richardson block against Dallas.
Udoka lamented guys standing in the lane but allowing easy lanes to the basket without helping. In this play, Dennis Schröder is absolutely toasted and the pass was one that would have killed Boston at the beginning of the year, but Richardson is there to help. Reggie Bullock didn’t even know Richardson was in his airspace.
One thing that’s also becoming clear is how much less Boston is switching. So much has been made of how Udoka was switching everything, but as the Celtics have started to get the hang of it, he has changed defense to add more to it.
“There are actually scoring actions that we want to take away and deny and blow those actions up, and there's a lot of what we call fluff actions off the ball,” Udoka explained. “We don't need to switch on certain things, and they're getting a better understanding of that. And then, when a guy gets put in a bad spot, we have each other's back. And that’s what we've been doing great. They'll try to take advantage of mismatches and we have the counters behind that. So I think we've kind of been on point with recognition of that, looking like second nature out there.”
The Raptors are seventh in the NBA in shot attempts within five feet of the rim. 19.1% of their offense is the transition game and their transition field goal percentage is eighth. If anyone is going to challenge Boston’s newfound defensive acumen, it’s going to be the Raptors.
They killed the Celtics with offensive rebounding and transition scoring. The Celtics have shaved a couple of offensive rebounds off their opponent’s totals over the last five games, but getting back and protecting the rim is going to be a big emphasis.
The numbers show Boston has been able to do it, but continuing it against a team that really loves to attack will be a big test of how far they’ve come.