Jayson Tatum took a second to process the box score sitting on the dais in front of him. The “22” under “3PA” didn’t quite register. They normally take that many by halftime.
“That’s not like us.”
Nope. But winning in ways we’re not used to is becoming a thing for these Celtics.
“They were super physical, borderline fouling all the time,” Kristaps Porzingis said after Boston’s ninth straight win. “At first their game plan worked really well. We just, we had the answers and we started to figure out what works. … It was good that we found different ways of winning. I think that’s something like, some people are a little bit worried like, oh they only shoot threes and what if they don’t fall? Tonight was a good example and we showed what we’re capable of.”
There's a misconception of what “Mazzulla ball” really is. It’s something I’ve tried to explain before, but because the Celtics lead the NBA in 3-pointers taken and made, the belief that Joe Mazzulla wants 3-pointers above all else persists.
That's incorrect.
“He never told us shoot 44 3s a night,” Tatum explained. “It's all about taking the right shots. Respecting each other's space. We usually do a good job of finding the advantage. Get behind the defense and collapse. We got team full of shooters, so we stay spaced. When they collapse, it's two on the ball. Then there's a 2-on-1 somewhere.”
Finding the 2-on-1 is goal, first and foremost, of Mazzulla’s offense. The thing is, that usually involves open 3-pointers. The Celtics average 42.3 3-point attempts per game. According to NBA tracking data, 19.1 of those are classified as wide open, ninth-most in the NBA. Another 17.3 are considered “open” (with a defender within 4-6 feet), most in the NBA.
So on any given night, all but six of Boston’s 3-pointers are either open or wide open. On a team full of good shooters, generating that many good looks demands that the shots go up.
But it’s not required.
“I don’t love 3s, I love great shots,” Mazzulla said. “If they are going to switch and the mismatches are going to be in the post or on the perimeter for dribble drives, then we’re going to shoot that. If we drive into the paint and they don’t help, we have to finish at the rim. … This team has really grown into taking what the defense gives you every single night, and quickly getting to what that is and trying to exploit it.”
The Celtics finished the night 24-30 in the restricted area, making more at the rim than shots attempted from deep. The Sixers tried something different because of their circumstance and the Celtics, eventually, cashed in on it. And they were able to do it thanks to a season-long evolution where they’ve learned how to roll with being defended in different ways.
“It took us a little while to just get to that space,” Mazzulla said. “So once we were able to get to that spacing and understand how we are able to take advantage of the matchups differently, the game slowed down for us. … The key to that is playing physical offense, getting to the free-throw line and making your free throws. But our one-shot defense, and as long as we keep the relationship of the game being connected, you can’t attack if you don’t defend, you can’t defend if you don’t attack, as long as we keep that relationship, we’ll be able to play against any coverage.”
As their offense got better, their defense improved. And as their defense improved, the paths to the rim got clearer and wider. And as they finished stronger down the stretch, they finally broke the Sixers and pulled away.
“It starts with the character of the team, the professionalism, the mindset they have, the approach that they bring to games, to practices, to shoot arounds, to film sessions. It’s all about them,” Mazzulla said. “I’ve said it multiple times, winning can be just as detrimental as losing if you don’t handle it the right way, so our guys are doing a good job of handling it, they have a balance of knowing we’re really good, but at the same time we have to get better and we have to be hard on ourselves.”
I wrote these words back on December 15 when the Celtics beat Cleveland without much benefit from the 3-pointer:
“Mazzulla Ball isn’t a style or a quota. It’s a philosophy aimed at getting guys to put conventional wisdom aside, buy into always making the best decision possible regardless of who you are, and then capitalizing on whatever advantages that presents. Some days it’ll be a 3. Others it’ll be a post-up.”
On this day it was drives to the rim, fouls, and free throws. The Celtics rarely forced anything in this game. Actually, they don’t seem to be forcing much anymore. This team is growing right in front of our eyes, continuing down the exact path a contender should follow. They are starting to round into form, winning games in whatever manner necessary, 3-pointers or not.
“We really just try to get better every single day,” Tatum said. “It sounds cliché and it sounds boring, but maybe last year we rushed or looked past opponents and were just ready to get to the playoffs. With this year, we’re really taking it one day at a time. Try to get better every day that we have practice or we have film sessions and look at every game as an opportunity to grow and get better as a team. … it’s all about playing good basketball.