“Our defense definitely won us the game tonight. No doubt about that.” - Jayson Tatum
For the first time this season, that is a true statement. The Boston Celtics, a bottom-third defense for most of the season so far, beat a talented offensive team based largely on getting stops.
They held the Brooklyn Nets to 95.8 points per 100 possessions, a defensive rating that would lead the league by a mile if they could do it all the time. The Celtics blocked nine shots and stole the ball 11 times, both second-best this season in each category.
The tone was set early, as the Celtics climbed out of an 11-2 hole to start the game. Kyrie Irving drove past Derrick White, on his way to what he thought was a comfortable layup. With Al Horford sliding over to challenge at the front of the rim, Irving clearly thought he’d left White in the dust. He did not.
Defense is largely about effort. It’s about seeing entire plays through and, even though a player may have beaten you, understanding there is help coming and a chance to still prevent the ball from going through the hoop. White did that for the first Celtics block of the game. Boston turned that into a 3-pointer on the other end.
On nights where that effort exists, defense can be beautiful to watch.
History might forget how wonderfully entertaining the first half of this game was. It felt like I was watching an old kung fu movie where each guy landed big punches and kicks but also wild flips and blocks and counters. Every time one team looked like it was springing free, the other came flying in with an impressive counter.
Jaylen Brown blocked Joe Harris to keep Boston’s 14-0 first quarter counterpunch rolling. Horford got Harris a minute later. And if it wasn’t obvious by then that the Celtics were locked in defensively and unwilling to allow any easy buckets, this happened:
Yes, that's Sam Hauser with a monster chasedown block. The Nets had plenty of chances to get out running transition, but the Celtics, despite their halfcourt struggles, do still have one of the best transition defenses in the league.
Brown had four blocks on the night. He also caught Irving in the third quarter and Royce O’Neale in the fourth, but it wasn’t just the blocked shots that made this one of Brown’s better defensive nights. His steal at a critical juncture of the fourth quarter was huge.
Brooklyn cut Boston’s seven point lead to just two when Malcolm Brogdon found Horford for a corner 3-pointer. A sloppy third quarter that soiled the fond memories of a wonderful first half prevented Boston from pulling away. The Celtics offense had slowed to a trickle against the Nets switching. The Nets, winners of four straight games and maybe feeling themselves threatened to make Boston pay for taking the bait of hunting for mismatches on offense.
The Horford shot was a sigh of relief, but Jayson Tatum badly missed a layup that sent him tumbling into the baseline photographers. The Nets had numbers.
And then…
Brown, at his worst, can let some bad moments cascade in his head. That's when his court awareness takes a nap and he loses sight of what’s happening on the floor. But when he’s fully in tune with the game, he’s capable of plays like this.
He didn’t just shrug or sulk when Tatum missed. He saw O’Neale with the ball, staring at Irving, and picking up his dribble. Brown instantly broke for the ball and the Celtics got two points out of the possession anyway.
The Celtics went on a 23-9 run to close the game out. A Tatum steal and dunk helped seal the game giving Boston its first defensive win of the season.
We know there are ebbs and flows to a season, but this performance seems important for one big reason: the impending return of Robert Williams.
Before the game, Joe Mazzulla said Williams is close to coming back. A defensive effort like this one, coupled with Williams as the back-line anchor, is the first glimpse of what might be for the second stage of this Celtics rocket.
They lifted off this season with an offense putting up historically great numbers. Those have tailed off in the past couple of games, but the defense is starting to trend upwards. A game like this one allows us to wonder if they can actually get this defense back into the top 10 with Williams on the floor? As the offensive end comes back to earth a bit, could there be a defensive boost coming that sends this team into the stratosphere?
For now, it’s only one game, but it’s good enough to warrant some attention. Mark it down in your calendars. On December 4, the 2022-23 Celtics won their first game based on their defensive effort.
That's either going to be a funny thing to look back on this season, or the start of something. If it’s the latter, the league is in trouble.
