Things came so easily to the Celtics to start the season that it’s easy to forget that they're still learning things as the year goes on.
As teams figure out what Boston is trying to do on a given night, they try to write the book on how to defend or attack whatever it is Joe Mazzulla has cooked up. As games stack up, so do the adjustments between the Celtics and their opponents.
This is a constant battle all year long; a game of chess between 30 teams to try to figure each other out and find that magic bullet that could be the key to winning and losing a playoff series. Hidden within wins and losses are micro-battles that keep team video coordinators awake all night as they try to crack codes.
But Boston has the ultimate counter: a bunch of very good, very different players.
“Ever seen Spider-Man?” Mazzulla asked after the game. “Into the Spider-Verse? There was like 20 different Spider-Men? That’s like our team.”
Okay. Let’s roll with that. Why not?
Having a bunch of Spider-men (should it be Spider-Mans?) is both a blessing and a curse. The downside to it is that every one of them feels like they have a mismatch every time down the floor. All those web-slingers can make the ball pretty sticky as they go matchup-hunting.
The plus, obviously, shows up when everyone is swinging it freely. If everyone is cool with working the ball around and using their Spidey-sense to make there right reads, they can go to just about anything at any time.
“Success is going to look different every night,” Mazzulla said. “You take a look at the matchup that Jrue (Holiday) was on, he shot 13 shots, and he did a great job of getting the ball down into the paint and either scoring or facilitating because of the matchup that he had. And then when they went to their smaller lineups, we went to a Derrick (White) and Kristaps (Porzingis) pick-and-roll, and then it was Jayson (Tatum)/Derrick pick-and-roll, and then Jaylen (Brown) had his possessions with Payton (Pritchard) where he got good looks. … The guys are doing a good job of understanding what that balance is.”
Boston’s biggest challenge, aside from their current penchant for varying levels of effort, is having the open-mindedness to truly understand what the best matchups on the floor are and to go to them even when other good matchups are there.
Brown could have made the case for a 30-point night of his own against Washington. They had no rim protection and Brown just loves getting downhill. This felt like a tailor-made night for him to attack, pile up fouls, and pump up his stats.
But the Porzingis matchup was better.
“I could be aggressive, or you could find guys and play through them,” Brown said afterward. “I think that we’re building a great team chemistry and we’re looking to be very intentional. I’ll have my opportunities to score the ball. I think I’ve proven myself to be able to do that at the highest level. So more about making sure our guys feel confident, making sure we’re getting the right reps in certain situations and we’re playing intentional basketball, because that’s what it’s going to come down to in the playoffs.”
There's no way the Wizards could truly simulate playoff basketball for Boston, but they still present challenges. They still have a variety of defenders who, when used differently, present different options for the Celtics to take. Part of their progression this season has been recognizing them more quickly, and reacting appropriately.
“We have so much talent that each night it could look differently,” Porzingis said. “Even if we’re prepared to do something, something else opens up because they’re doing a counter to whatever we’re trying to do. So it’s always reads throughout the game. And honestly I’m just grateful to play with this level of players around me. It does make life – we make life easier for each other. And a lot of times it’s much more easier to play with high-level players like we have on our team.”
Standing in Boston’s locker room, there’d be no way to tell who had a big night and who didn’t. After a huge game against the Atlanta Hawks, Derrick White played a much different role against the Wizards, finishing with just four points. But there he was, laughing with everyone after the game and asking Al Horford’s son about his favorite fruit. Porzingis has been in Boston for almost half a year and I don’t think I’ve seen him be anything but exuberant. No one seems to care whose turn it is for a big night.
Mental readiness is going to be the talking point after a game like this, which is fine. It’s a fair point to be made and it will remain so until the Celtics shut that talk down with their play. But the bigger story is how the Celtics are figuring out how to adjust on the fly in tight games. The willingness for stars to step up and also step back is going to be what wins this team a championship. The openness to letting different people shine because that's what the game demands is why the Celtics are the favorites to win it all.
“This is a different team,” Brown said. “We got a lot of options each and every night. We can play through a plethora of players, especially with this group. So being able to be poised, at the same time be sacrificial, but just be humble in the sense like it’s an honor to be on a winning team, to have the potential to play for something bigger than yourself.”