Brad Stevens joined the NBCS Boston broadcast in the second quarter of the Clippers game. When Jordan Miller took a pass down low and scored at the rim, Stevens said, “Another layup,” expressing the frustration that many fans feel. He said it again when Ivica Zubac got one.
“That’s our issue,” Stevens said. “I don't think we’ve played at the level we hopefully will play as we go on. We’ve had spurts of it, you see it game to game in spurts, but a few things we have to clean up, for sure.”
The Celtics defense isn’t bad. They're eighth in the league right now, allowing 110.2 points per 100 possessions. Combine that with their third-ranked offense and Boston’s net rating is 10.7, third-best in the league. It’s hard to ask for more from a 15-3 team that is only in second place because Cleveland is having one of the most absurd starts to the season we’ve ever seen.
Still, we’re not here for good enough. That's something you say about a shelf that's not completely level. I’ve said the line “Just don’t put anything round up there and no one will notice,” a couple of times in my life.
But we do notice the imperfections with Boston’s defense, even if they're slight. Boston’s eighth-ranked defense is 26th in paint points allowed.
“Obviously it starts with individual defense and then just try to figure out what we’re trying to live with, how we can rotate better,” Derrick White said at the team’s Wednesday practice. “That’s the fun thing about defense is that you can do a lot of different things. So just trying to figure out what it is each game and just be better every time.”
Through 18 games last season, they had the third-ranked defense at 107.1. There are three reasons why the defense is different than it was last season.
1: A healthy Kristaps Porzingis.
2: Defensive scheme.
3: A strong motivation to win a championship.
The Celtics only just got Porzingis back and there was obviously a minutes restriction on him. Al Horford missed the game, as did Luke Kornet, so the full complement of bigs still wasn’t available. We’ll have to wait and see just how much he changes things, but there was clearly at least some noticeable impact.
He finished the game with two blocked shots in 22:37 of play. He challenged 10 2-point shots and the team’s defensive rating when he was on the floor was 92.2. The more he plays, the better Boston’s defense is going to get. He’ll naturally be more of a deterrent.
Then add to that Horford subbing in either for Porzingis or to play alongside him and there will be even more natural rim protection. Maybe that will lead to a simple line of delineation for Boston’s defense: Before Porzingis and After Porzingis.
There is still the matter of back-to-backs, during which the Celtics will lean heavily on an adjusted scheme, which also accounts for the change.
Shooting variance was one of Joe Mazzulla’s biggest fears last season. This year’s scheme is to run opponents off the 3-point line and into 2-pointers more often to eliminate that chance. A team getting hot from 2 is much easier to beat than a team getting hot from 3. Boston’s offense cooks hot enough to burn most teams who are relying on 2-pointers, even if they're getting to the rim.
This season, Boston is third in opponent 3-pointers attempted, giving up 34.5 per game, and teams are shooting 34%. Through 18 games last season, they allowed 37.1 and opponents were shooting 35%. So the Celtics defense is allowing 2.6 fewer attempts and 1.3 fewer makes from 3.
Meanwhile, Boston’s offense is cranking up the 3-point attempts, going from 43.3 to 50.6 per game. Their makes have jumped from 15.6 to 18.9. All of this means a team will have to shoot nearly 55% from 3 to match Boston’s average.
Let’s simplify it: Boston allows 11.7 3-pointers per game and averages 18.9, basically creating an inherent 21-point advantage every night. The Celtics are allowing 53.8 points in the paint, but they are scoring 39.7, a difference of 14.1. That's an advantage Boston will take.
“We have to get better at protecting the rim, which we saw a little bit of that yesterday, and I think when we’re fully healthy it allows us to play different lineups like more double big situations where protecting the rim is easier because of the type of versatility we have out there,” Mazzulla said. “So I don’t know if they’re issues as much as like when you play a certain way, these are the things you have to fight not to give up vs what you’re willing to give up. But I like our competitive spirit, I like what we’re doing tactically, I like the reads we’re making.”
In a way, the absurd points in the paint number is a cousin of their 60 3-point attempt games. It’s an outrageous number that is a bit of an outlier, but also not as big a problem as some might make it seem. The Celtics are willing to give up 2-pointers as part of their defensive plan. The ridiculous paint numbers are the result of pushing players away from more dangerous areas.
However, like the 60 3PA games, that can’t be the norm. There is a necessary balance. But frankly, the two numbers are intertwined.
Boston’s shooting has bailed them out of some defensive stinkers. There is some level of “we can outscore these fools” going on with the Celtics. At the same time, they are taking the absolute best punches a lot of these teams have to offer. I’m not certain the Celtics were fully prepared for just how much harder teams would try against them. Couple that with their willingness to try to outscore teams and, maybe, some easing into the season, and the defensive numbers aren’t exactly where they need to be right now.
“Maybe (when) it’s going really easily offensively, we might relax defensively which I mean we’ve just gotta change that mindset a little bit,” White admitted. “But I think we do a good job of just taking pride defensively and each game’s going to be a little different. In 48 minutes, a lot of things are gonna happen, so we’ve gotta just try to see what we can live with and just make it difficult.”
There's no reason to doubt that Boston’s defensive prowess will fully show itself as the games matter more. The Celtics are going through the early-season feeling out of opponents and understanding exactly what stands in the way of another championship. It’s either going to expose their flaws as a team, or steel them for the challenges which lie ahead.
Considering who is in that locker room, I expect the latter. Again, this team isn’t bad defensively, but they have ways they can be better. Teams have had some outlier games against Boston, and that will even itself out, so some of the numbers might naturally level off as the sample size gets bigger. Boston’s defense is good, but not as good as it could be, no matter how you measure it. How much better they get is largely up to them, especially now that they are approaching full strength.