Will Hardy knows the Celtics. At least, he used to.
Hardy and his Utah Jazz reached into their bag of tricks for all the little things that bothered the Boston Celtics before. They started out in a zone, and Jayson Tatum picked it apart.
Then they switched. No problem.
Utah tried a little bit of everything that history told them to try. None of it worked.
“Honestly, it caught me off-guard last year when they did that,” Tatum admitted after the game. “I had a better game when we played them at home that year. Just knowing what to expect, knowing how to attack it. Knowing what we're trying to do and not letting it kind of take me out of the game.”
Fair enough, but I’m not sure that's really where this story begins and ends, because it’s not just Tatum who seems to be learning. In fact, this isn’t just about learning at all.
“I think obviously the roster being a little bit different,” Joe Mazzulla said. “We have different strengths than we had before so we’re able to play a little bit faster or (to Kristaps Porzingis’) strengths in the paint we can get the ball in the middle of the paint …
“So I think just all of us making plays, getting out in transition. I think Jayson’s ability to play patient versus that and see the 2-on-1s. I think Jaylen (Brown’s) ability to play fast, I think Derrick (White) and Jrue (Holiday), we saw them be aggressive with catch-and-shoot shots and driving to the paint. And then just constant movement, so I was pleased with the way we handled – it didn’t change our rhythm.”
Rhythm might be the best way to put it. Boston has more of that and less of the emotional swings to their games. They aren’t getting caught up as often in highs and lows, despite their vows to not get too much of either.
Maybe “methodical” is a better way to characterize how Boston is playing right now. Porzingis is such a difference-maker for this team that it allows for a higher level of trust across the board.
“We didn’t have a 7-foot-4 guy that we could throw the ball to, and you switch and he can make the right play, score every time,” Tatum said. “It’s tough, so adding that guy and obviously how D-White has been playing and adding Jrue. We’ve just got so many more weapons. But I think KP is a big part of why it’s hard to kind of guard us.”
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This Celtics team isn’t just better than last year’s team. It’s miles better. This year’s team might sweep last year’s in a playoff series. I can sit here and list all of the ways and be chasing the chicken and egg reasoning behind it for a long time.
Porzingis has completely changed the offense, which makes Tatum and Brown trust him, which makes them more comfortable on the floor. Holiday and White are the right ballast for this ship, giving the team exactly what they need when they need it, and never really swinging things too far in any direction, which makes everyone around them feel more comfortable.
Playing loose and free leads to some damn good basketball.
It’s like a swimmer in a rip current. Spend as much time out there as an NBA team does, and eventually one of those will grab hold and start to pull. Boston’s teams of the recent past would find themselves dragged out to sea. This year’s team calmly swims out of it with enough energy to get back to shore.
“You see it all the time in the NBA: blown leads, difficult times, teams struggles, let a team go on a 15-0 run or whatever the case may be,” Mazzulla said. “I think we’re just not staying in that space longer. It’s there, we acknowledge it, and we move on as fast as we can. I think that’s the key is we want to be perfect. We want to win every single game. We want to win every game that you’re supposed to, but that’s just not how it goes. … I think it’s just a matter of having the expectation it’s not gonna go your way all the time, and when it’s not, how quickly can you get back to being your best?”
Boston came out at their best, something that, again, might not have been the norm. The Indiana Pacers, who put up a blowout of their own tonight, are looming as a revenge game for the Celtics. It would have been easy to sleepwalk through this game because the focus was elsewhere.
“I think we do a good job of not taking days for granted,” Tatum said. “Whether it’s practice or a big game or not a big game, we try to treat them all the same and not take anything for granted. It’s kinda as simple as we’re just trying to get better every single day and we’ve been doing it for each other.”