NBA Notebook: The league is different this year and Celtics have to adjust

Joe Mazzulla offered a retort to questions over the Celtics' motivation and effort this season, channeling Erik Spoelstra's infamous untrained eye comment as an 8-7 stretch began with bad losses to the Pacers and 76ers that continued against the Kings on Friday. 

“I would never say that we’re not motivated. I would never say that,” he said. “I don’t think that’s the case in a lot of things. I think it’s more of the details at times, the communication at times. I don’t question the intrinsic motivation to our guys or where they’re at. I don’t think that’s the case at all and I think it’s easy to look at one game and say it’s the defense. … I just think when you’re in a tough stretch or it’s not going well, the easiest thing for the untrained eye to see is defense, effort, motivation and those are just kind of words that people throw around."

After Friday's 114-97 loss at home, where they already have three more losses than they did in 2023-24, Mazzulla relented somewhat on the effort discussion. He's noticing short-term lapses due to poor offensive stretching wearing on the Celtics. There haven't been long-term problems with it, he said. And that's true, the Celtics got right with a lockdown effort on New Year's Eve over the Raptors. A team meeting preceded it that Kristaps Porziņģis played up as a look-in-the-mirror moment while Al Horford and Mazzulla categorized it as a normal film session. It, nonetheless, set up a stellar defensive game plan to shut down Anthony Edwards, a lockdown effort at Houston and quality focus at Denver with Nikola Jokić out. There's some evidence it's simply an effort, or attention to detail, issue. The Celtics have to hope that's the case, and the league simply isn't catching up to them. 

That's what it looked like in Oklahoma City last Sunday, where the Thunder shut off Jaylen Brown by switching Lu Dort onto him, took away the Celtics' pick-and-roll frequencies and turned them over 16 times to limit Boston to its fewest points in a half since 2012. Shai Gilgeous-Alexander thoroughly outplayed Jayson Tatum and the Thunder assumed a 4.5-game lead later in the week over the Celtics for home court throughout the playoffs. They're a distant thought, needing to escape a grueling west, but they've shown themselves every bit on par if not better than Boston to this point. 

"They're a very good team. A team that knows how to play on the offensive end. They know how to execute and attack and they know their strengths," Horford, who played for the Thunder in 2020-21, said. "And defensively, they did a really good job that game of taking our stuff away. Just very impressed with what coach (Mark) Daigneault has done there and those guys seem to continue to take steps up. Shai and Lu Dort and those guys, they just continue to get better, they continue to be more solid and it was a good, hard-fought game. They just continue to build on their foundation, their defensive identity. I think the playoffs were really good for them last year. I felt like they got some good experience from that. They're handling this season much better because of it."

The Thunder looked faster, stronger, deeper and more athletic than the Celtics, who Porziņģis pointed outplayed a step slow in the game. Boston painted a picture of an overall successful road trip, going 3-1, but the one true measuring stick game showed them lacking. Not due to energy, effort or enthusiasm, but personnel that across the board hasn't played as well as a year ago, for whatever reason.  Brown, who wore a large pack of ice over his right shoulder all week, declined from a career-high 55.7 eFG% last season to his worst since his rookie 2016-17 at 51.7 eFG% to begin this year. He's dealt with a role change, too, that pulls him off the floor midway through first quarters in favor of Tatum. Sam Hauser, who's finally stringing together games while dealing with a nagging back ailment, climbed to 37.4% from three over the past month, still far below his 41.4% career standard. Jrue Holiday's offensive struggles (34.5% 3PT) have been well discussed while Porziņģis (34.9% 3PT) mentioned on Friday he's trying to strengthen his shooting wrist.

The Celtics also have some lineup flexibility issues. When they don't have their starting five available, who have a -10.0 net rating and have undoubtedly suffered from playing limited minutes together, they go double-big, even trailing by double-digits late in Friday's game. They've tried to court Derrick White, Payton Pritchard and Holiday together unsuccessfully, and that takes either Brown or Tatum off the floor. Neemias Queta, who's their most physical and athletic player along with an offensive rebounding cheat code, has found himself without minutes in too many games, including Friday, due to an overlap between his and Luke Kornet's role, who's played solid in front of him. Xavier Tillman Sr., who was supposed to bridge some of their front-court lineups with his shooting and switching abilities, lost his rotation spot in a start on Nov. 8 and has rarely played since.

The league has changed beyond top-class competitors like the Cavs and Thunder emerging. As Jalen Brunson predicted, some teams have tried to challenge the Celtics by matching Boston's volume shooting. Chicago nearly knocked off the Celtics early in the season by taking 50 threes, the Kings successfully topped Boston in attempts and after obsessing over trying to slow them, the Celtics adjusted their defense midway through the season to better at protect the rim. It's allowed three-point outbreaks to opponents like Russell Westbrook, Jalen McDaniels and Caleb Martin in recent games, and while it usually works to make players take uncomfortable shots, the Christmas loss became defined by breakdowns on Martin. Sabonis shot 3-of-4 from deep on Friday with Boston looking comfortable letting him shoot. 

“We made some adjustments, partially, to how the league has made some adjustments to us,” Brown said after the game. “Defensively, we’ve been better protecting the basket, not allowing as many paint points. Tonight, Sacramento hit a bunch of shots, they out-shot us from three … our offense was the tell of the game. We had some turnovers, took some ill-advised shots, spacing and rhythm. That’s part of it. Everybody’s back. Everybody was healthy today, so something we gotta continue to fight for and figure out. Today wasn’t the best example of that.”

Outside help won't save the Celtics, but could provide a jolt before or just after the trade deadline. They have some trade flexibility with Jaden Springer's $4 million in matching salary available alongside an open roster spot. Oshae Brissett remains available if they want a familiar face and beloved locker room presence from last year, who'll now come at half the cost of a minimum contract and the associated tax hit. The same goes for Lonnie Walker IV, who didn't make the team despite a strong camp reportedly due to luxury tax concerns. The door remains open to a return, with Boston reportedly interested, but it'll now force them to buy him out from his overseas deal in Lithuania before Feb. 18. 

In the meantime, the Celtics have to return to defensive consistency to survive a shooting regression from last year that could persist into the second half. They're tied for 13th at 36.4% from three, nearly two percentage points below their second-place mark from last year. They're attempting more, perhaps part of the diminishing returns, one opposing shooter telling Boston Sports Journal earlier this season that the Celtics lived with multiple bad shots to play the variance game against them. Boston's offensive rebounding, tied for 17th in percentage, hasn't been good enough to counteract the misses. Defensively, they're statistically better than they were one year ago, by one point per possession, but in key spots, like the late shot clock breakdown on Tyrese Maxey, they've been inconsistent. Something Mazzulla has admitted to more often recently, offering the least press conference pushback he has in nearly two years Friday. They got killed on the boards, he said. And ran into the Kings at the wrong time. 

"I would just say the inconsistency is on the offensive end," Mazzulla said. "Putting pressure on your defense ... you gotta be able to score and you gotta be able to defend. So just those inconsistencies on the offensive end at times, whether it's shot-making, whether it's execution, whether it's spacing. I would sum it up to that ... " 

" ... It's a good question (why we're playing down to competition). I don't know. I think Sacramento is a revived team. They've won six in a row now, so they're a good team and they just outplayed us. I don't have an answer as far as that stuff." 

Here's what else happened around the NBA this week...

Atlanta (19-19): Trae Young stole a win from the Jazz with a half-court shot four seconds after Collin Sexton tied the game, beating the buzzer and inching the Hawks above .500 before they fell back into familiar territory with a loss to Phoenix. Atlanta is 180-176 since the 2020-21 season began, though they have a 2.5 game cushion on the 11th seed 76ers. 

Boston (27-11): Finished a grueling road trip 3-1 by pulling away late from the Nuggets on a 15-0 fourth-quarter run after Denver threatened them all game without Nikola Jokić. The Celtics avoided a letdown with their opponents star out, which they've suffered multiple of in the recent past, motivated by the loss to the Thunder on Sunday. Oklahoma City's defense shut off the Celtics in the second half, holding them to their fewest points in a single half since 2012 (27), including 12 in the fourth. Only Jayson Tatum, Kristaps Porziņģis, Al Horford and Luke Kornet scored after halftime, and though Boston achieved full health in the loss, they couldn't keep up with the Thunder's athleticism, strength and speed, a wake-up call that there are more threats out there to the Celtics this time around. Another came on Friday in a bad loss to a short-handed, .500 Kings team that drew boos.

Cleveland (33-4): Surpassed the 2016 Warriors for the moment with the best win percentage in NBA history as their 73-win pace continued through a 12-game win streak by taking down the Thunder on Wednesday and ending their 14-gamer. Cleveland took the potential Finals preview, 129-122, in a game that included a 43-41 third-quarter win for the Thunder. Brian Windhorst called it some of the highest-level basketball he's watched in his reporting career, and the Cavs prevailed despite Donovan Mitchell starting 1-of-11 and finishing 3-of-16 from the field. Darius Garland picked Mitchell up with 40 points while Max Strus and Dean Wade combined to shoot 8-of-10 from three, key wing contributors getting back to themselves ahead of an important rematch with Boston early next month. The Cavs lead the Celtics by 6.0 games in the east now and have won 20-of-21 at home. They play a home-and-home with the Pacers this week before visiting Oklahoma City on Thursday. 

Dallas (22-16): Kyrie Irving (back) joined Luka Dončić (calf) on the bench with a bulging disk that'll cost him at least 1-2 weeks. Dončić's absence already sent the Mavs on a five-game losing streak and dropped them to seventh in the west, though they managed to beat the Lakers and Blazers later this week behind Spencer Dinwiddie, Quentin Grimes and Klay Thompson's scoring. Jaden Hardy broke out for 25 points on Thursday, further hope that the Mavs can stay afloat with their star guards sidelined. 

Denver (22-15): Nikola Jokić fell ill earlier this week and his sickness worsened into game day against the Celtics, forcing him to leave the arena early and miss the game. That left Jamal Murray under fire from the Celtics' defense as their offense shut down for over four minutes in the fourth quarter to lose 118-106 despite Russell Westbrook starting 4-of-7 from three. Six Nuggets, including Deandre Jordan in a start, scored double-figures and Denver shut down the Clippers to win the following night in an intriguing step for a group that posted a -14.8 net rating prior to the Boston game with Jokić off the floor this season. Talks between the Nuggets and Bulls on a Zach LaVine deal are reportedly dormant. 

Detroit (19-19): Reportedly considering a pivot from utilizing their $14 million in cap space from taking on contracts in exchange for draft capital toward potential improvements to the roster to help their playoff push. The Pistons currently sit in the eighth seed in the east, winning 8-of-10 and scoring their longest win streak since their last playoff appearance led by Blake Griffin in 2018-19. Cade Cunningham is averaging 24.3 PPG, 6.6 RPG and 9.3 APG while shooting 45.7% from the field and almost inevitably on his way to his first all-star game. Rookie Ron Holland II, who squared up with Jordan Clarkson earlier this season, got into a spat with Draymond Green on Thursday -- a perfect Detroit player. 

Golden State (19-19): Steve Kerr revealed his family lost his childhood home in the Los Angeles fires that erupted this week in Pacific Palisades. Kerr's 90-year-old mother, who moved into the home in 1969, safely evacuated before it burned down. Kerr had just visited the home two weeks prior when the Warriors visited Los Angeles for dinner. 

The Warriors sound like they're out of the Jimmy Butler sweepstakes and prefer to keep Jonathan Kuminga and Andrew Wiggins. 

Indiana (21-18): Tyrese Haliburton revealed to The Athletic that he consumed the negative noise around him online as he struggled to begin the season, and believes it influenced his and the Pacers' play through their uneven start. Haliburton went on to delete X and returned to church in pursuit of a more positive perspective, and in recent weeks he and Indiana have emerged from below .500 back into the playoff picture. If the playoffs started today and the Pacers won the play-in tournament, they'd face Boston in round one. 

“I got too caught up in outside noise and allowing myself to think such negative thoughts about myself internally,” Haliburton said. “It was the first time in my life that I had real self-doubt behind everything I was doing." 

Clippers (20-17): Kawhi Leonard stepped away from the Clippers in Denver on Wednesday to be with family who evacuated from the fires in Los Angeles this week. Leonard returned from his knee inflammation to begin the season last Saturday, shooting 3-of-5 from three in a blowout win over the Hawks. LA lost to Minnesota in his second game back. Leonard shot a combined 7-for-22 across his first two appearances, saying that he's still easing into the game early in his return. The NBA postponed Hornets-Clippers on Saturday.

"You definitely have to take care of home. ... Totally had my support 100%," Ty Lue said. "Going back, checking on his family and kids, making sure they're well. And he got back, and they're doing OK, so just happy and thankful for that."

Lakers (20-16): Head coach JJ Redick lost his rental home in the Los Angeles fires this week as the NBA postponed the Lakers' games against the Hornets and Spurs this week as evacuations and the fight against the blaze continue just outside downtown and the team's arena. Redick spoke for the first time since the incident, nearing tears and saying that the Lakers want to play to provide some hope during a difficult time for the city. Redick's wife, Chelsea, and their two sons, Knox and Kai evacuated before their house burned down on Tuesday. He reunited with the family on Wednesday before driving to Pacific Palisades to see the building gone. They had been in search of a permanent home. 

"I was not prepared for what I saw," Redick said. "It's complete devastation and destruction. I had to go a kind of a different way to the house, but I went through most of the [Palisades] Village and it's all gone. And I don't think you can ever prepare yourself for something like that. Our home, our home is gone."

Memphis (24-14): Marcus Smart is week-to-week after missing the last nine games with a finger injury while the Grizzlies fell to 4-5 over that stretch. Ja Morant missed five games with his shoulder injury before returning to shoot 9-for-22 in a loss to the Rockets that slid Memphis to third in the west. The Grizzlies, among other teams, reportedly received notice from Jimmy Butler's camp not to trade for the Heat star because he does not want to go there. Reports initially indicated following Butler's trade request that he would prefer to be anywhere but Miami. Now, he appears focused on pushing his way to the Phoenix Suns. 

Miami (19-17): Beat the Warriors and Jazz to bounce back from a 36-point loss to Utah in their first game without Jimmy Butler, who has reportedly appeared back at Miami's facility to work out with Heat coaches during his seven-game suspension. There doesn't appear to be much traction on a trade as Butler sounds focused on angling his way to the Suns. The Heat reportedly have no interest in bringing back Bradley Beal, the only way that deal could work from a cap standpoint unless he's routed to another team. In turn, Beal has a no-trade clause and has no intention to waive it. Butler's suspension ends after Heat-Lakers on Wednesday, which would make him eligible to return on Friday against the Nuggets at home. When the suspension happened, the indication was that it would effectively end Butler's time with the team, but time is running out and he could rejoin the team.

Milwaukee (20-16): Have won three straight, including an impressive shutdown performance on the Spurs and Victor Wembanyama, but demoted Khris Middleton to the bench as he continues his recovery from offseason ankle surgeries. He scored eight points in his new role against San Antonio before posting 11 in a tight win over the Magic. Doc Rivers told Middleton about the move on Sunday, citing a desire to have a constant starting lineup night-to-night while Middleton manages his way back from injury. Middleton has shot 44.3% from the field and 36.8% from three in 14 games back, averaging 12.2 PPG, 4.4 RPG and 4.8 APG in 23.5 minutes per game. For cap restriction reasons, don't expect to see the Bucks get involved in potential Jimmy Butler or Bradley Beal trades, especially after Milwaukee reportedly received word, like Memphis, not to trade for Butler. 

New Orleans (8-31): Zion Williamson returned from his hamstring injury with a standout dunk and 22 points in 28 minutes before resting the following game, both losses. The Pelicans then suspended Williamson for Friday's win over the 76ers due to him arriving late for the team's flight to Philadelphia. Williamson accepted responsibility and will return on Sunday against the Celtics at 6 p.m. in Boston. New Orleans remained without Brandon Ingram (ankle) and Trey Murphy III (ankle) to begin the road trip and the team announced that Herb Jones suffered a torn labrum this week and is out indefinitely. 

"There were several occasions that led up to this, and that's how we got to this decision," Willie Green said of Williamson's suspension.

Oklahoma City (31-6): Returned to their winning ways after their win streak ended at Cleveland, pummeling the Knicks at Madison Square Garden on Friday, 126-101. Shai Gilgeous-Alexander scored 39 points in 29 minutes and is becoming the strong frontrunner for MVP as the Thunder pull away in the west, 6.0 games ahead of second-seed Houston. The Thunder sent their loudest statement against the Celtics on Sunday, outclassing a healthy Boston team and decimating its second unit while holding them to 92 points. Gilgeous-Alexander scored 33 in that win. The team did lose rookie contributor Ajay Mitchell this week, though, who underwent right toe surgery and will miss at least 10-12 weeks. A scary reminder: they're still missing Chet Holmgren and Alex Caruso while they win all these games. 

Orlando (22-18): Paolo Banchero returned from a 34-game absence and scored 34 points on 11-of-21 shooting in a close loss to the Bucks on Friday. The Magic survived his absence and remained top-five in the east through the loss, an affirmation of head coach Jamahl Mosley, who deserves coach of the year consideration as much as Cavs coach Kenny Atkinson, along with unsung depth that got them through both Banchero and Franz Wagner's injury. Orlando miraculously went 19-15 without Banchero. Wagner remains out indefinitely, and Jalen Suggs missed the last four games after his scary back spasms incident last week. The Magic visit the Celtics on Friday after beating them last month.

Philadelphia (15-21): Still outside the playoff picture in the east by 2.0 games after Joel Embiid missed three straight games to reach 23 absences this season, suffering a foot sprain this week that Nick Nurse didn't consider a long term concern. The team also officially announced Jared McCain will miss the rest of the season after undergoing meniscus surgery and Paul George's struggles continued to begin January, complaining of boredom as he has to pick up more big man responsibilities in Embiid's absence. The Sixers are 7-6 with Embiid available this year and 8-15 without him. 

Phoenix (17-19): Outside the playoff picture by 1.0 game and behind both the Warriors and Spurs for that postseason spot after moving Bradley Beal to the bench and cutting out Jusuf Nurkić's minutes entirely to beat the Hawks where Beal managed 23 points. Still, Beal's body language on the bench doesn't look great, and even if Mason Plumlee and Ryan Dunn's insertions into the starting group provide a short-term bump, the benching of Beal and Nurkić underscore the array of poor moves that put the Suns in this situation. Even if they figure out a way to flip Beal into Jimmy Butler, which seems unlikely at this point, they're still built around three stars, Nurkić and rookies/minimum players.

Sacramento (19-19): Impressively handed the Celtics their worst loss of the season to score their sixth straight win under interim coach Doug Christie, who has stressed defense and resonated with the players since the Kings fired Mike Brown last month. They're 6-1 since then, and De'Aaron Fox missed the last three wins over Golden State, Miami and Boston, making them more impressive. Domantas Sabonis put up a staggering 23 points, 28 rebounds and three assists in the latter win, and Sacramento is now up to ninth in the west, ranking fifth in offense and defense over the last seven games. Only the Thunder, Cavs, Nuggets and Pacers have better net ratings over that stretch.