I don’t want to hear Joe Mazzulla talk about top 10 expected this or that ever again when we question his team’s defense.
I know Mazzulla is going to do what he needs to do to deflect negative attention from his team, but after these last few defensive performances, capped by a masterful effort in Houston, even he can’t avoid addressing the difference.
“The ball pressure from the guard, playing double-big and having great rim protection, defending without fouling,” Mazzulla began. “That’s the standard defensively that we all know and it was good to see the guys do it.”
You’re damn right it was.
It’s obvious that Mazzulla knows the questions have been legit. Boston’s defensive rating during their 2-4 late-December dip was 108.5. That was still good for eighth, but it’s not what they're capable of. Over the last three games, though, it dropped to 100.7, best in the NBA by nearly two full points.
What changed? The thing we’ve wanted them to change. Their effort. Watch Jrue Holiday on this possession:
"That, to me, was the highlight of the game,” Mazzulla said. “What he's able to do for us, that stuff doesn't go unnoticed.”
Brian Scalabrine made sure to highlight that play in the game broadcast as well. It’s a simple effort play, a dead sprint up the floor to take away a passing option and force a guy into a travel and a turnover. It’s a play that the Celtics weren’t making very often in the early portion of their schedule. Something got them to change.
“We had a good meeting before this trip,” Kristaps Porzingis revealed after the win in Houston. “(It was) a little bit, like, looking in the mirror type of meeting to see where we can improve and what we can do better, because teams are obviously coming for us, and some of them are playing their best basketball against us."
That come-to-Jesus meeting has led to more activity on the defensive end, which shows up in their deflection stats (and I don’t mean Mazzulla covering for his team). They average 13 deflections per game, but it dipped to 11.7 in that six-game swoon. They’ve averaged 17.3 over the last three games. That has resulted in more live-ball turnovers, which fuels their high-powered offense. And when that's clicking and opponents have to inbound the ball against a set defense, the whole thing becomes a sort of perpetual motion machine that churns out amazing basketball.
“We're out here competing against another really good team, and you just want to continue to play the right way and just build the habits that we talk about,” Derrick White said. “I think we did a good job of starting well, probably because we made shots, but then we just kind of imposed our will throughout the game.”
Early on, it didn’t look like the Celtics defense would dominate the way it ultimately did. They gave up 31 points in the first quarter, letting Alperen Sengun do his usual work in the post and then Steven Adams led an offensive rebounding avalanche. But after Sengun scored eight in the first, he was held to six the rest of the way, none in the second half. Adams only grabbed one more offensive rebound after three in the first, and Houston only had eight more after six in the first.
A lot of that came through a lineup adjustment, using more Luke Kornet in double-big lineups with Porzingis roaming behind. That led to plays like this in the second half where Sengun was baited into deep double-teams.
“You first have to be able to defend at the point of attack, and Luke was able to do that,” Mazzulla said. “KP was there to swarm him, so it was a team effort, defensively. It was good stuff.”
The Celtics were never afraid of Houston’s 3-point shooting, which is second-worst in the league. They dared Sengun to kick it out to the perimeter, and even when a few shots fell early on, Boston didn’t overreact. With the Celtics able to adjust and prevent second chances, they were able to hold Houston to 16 points in the third quarter and 14 in the fourth.
“I think us forcing them to have guys that we wanted to shoot, they shot those shots,” Porzingis said. “We were making some adjustments. … From the small sample size, it's looking good so far.”
There are a few key elements to good defense. There is coaching, which means having a plan, getting the right matchups, and making good adjustments. There is communication, which means guys on the floor talking to one another so everyone can follow the plan. And there is effort, which simply means trying very hard to put yourself between the man and the basket, getting to spots under control, and helping without going overboard.
The Celtics weren’t great at those last couple of things for stretches of December. That has turned around in a big way over the last four days. And while Porzingis is correct in calling it a small sample size, what’s actually happening is the Celtics are getting back to who they really are. These few games are, in reality, part of the bigger picture where the Celtics are the champs and the favorites to repeat.
These past few games have nothing to do with any stats about expected shots. They have everything to do with Boston meeting expectations.