BSJ Game Report: Celtics 138, Cavs 107 - Simons, White, Pritchard shine against another resting opponent

Everything you need to know about the Celtics' preseason win over the Cavs, with BSJ insight and analysis.

IN A NUTSHELL

This was not the test I anticipated, as the Celtics once again faced a team resting its starters. Payton Pritchard got hot early, and the rest of the Celtics quickly followed suit as they shot 64% in the first half (52.4% from 3) to go up 24. They turned up the defense in the third, piling up seven steals, and ran away with it.

Box Score

HEADLINES

- Disappointing non-test: I so badly wanted to see this team get tested so we could get a closer look at just how far they need to go, but the Cavs did not cooperate. I thought the Celtics were actually not that great in the first half, despite being up 24, but it’s hard to make the argument when their opponent can’t make them pay for their mistakes. 

- Hot shooting: Anfernee Simons caught fire, shooting 6-9 from 3, leading a 40% 3-point shooting night from the Celtics. Again, this masked a lot of stuff I didn’t like, including a lack of early pace and their inability to close out defensive possessions. 

- Rebounding … again: The pattern remains the same for Boston. The Cavs missed 66 shots and Boston finished with 39 defensive rebounds. That's just awful. This is going to kill them this season. 

THINGS I LIKED

- Derrick White: He’s barely breaking a sweat against these backups. He finished with 16 points, seven rebounds, five assists, and three blocks in just 22 minutes. Easy work. I’m looking forward to his season. 

- Payton Pritchard: Set the tone early with 12 first-quarter points (he finished with 14 in 23 minutes). He also got in there for five rebounds and he did a fine job of boxing out some of the bigger guys. Pritchard is always giving full effort.

- Anfernee Simons: He came off the bench, a role he hasn’t been in for a few years. He settled in and finished with 21 points on 50% overall shooting. 

“I thought at first I was overthinking it,” he said after the game. “But once I got out there I got a little more comfortable. Obviously when you’ve been starting for how many years now, you feel, like, changing the kind of routine that you’ve built the past couple years. But I think those early years coming off the bench really helped me.”

- Jaylen Brown’s second quarter: He started off super slow, going scoreless until the 3:50 mark of the second, but he had a stretch where he assisted on three straight baskets and he added a couple of steals, one of which he finished with a dunk. 

He led the team with six assists and three steals. 

- The 3rd quarter defense: The Celtics stole the ball seven times in the third quarter, leading to 10 points off turnovers. The Cavs shot just 9-24 in the third.

- Josh Minott: Another night of disruptive defense. He also added a couple of highlight dunks. 

“He has to keep that up,” Joe Mazzulla said after the game. “Has to play hard, has to be able to rebound, has to be able to sprint the floor, has to crash, has to shoot the ball if he's open, has to defend at a high level. He's getting better at that.”

- Hugo Gonzalez: He didn’t do a ton, but I did see one possession of incredibly good defense from him that is very encouraging. I don’t expect much of him this season, but I think the bits and pieces are adding up to a bright future.

- This dunk by Wendell Moore Jr.:

I don’t know how his basketball career is going to go, but I know if I did that in a game, it’d be on a loop in my house on the biggest TV I could find. 

THINGS I DIDN’T LIKE

- Rebounding: I asked Mazzulla about what it would take to fix the rebounding issues. 

“Keep playing, find guys that will rebound.”

So I asked if the wings have to do more, and where they stand on that philosophically. 

“Find five guys that rebound.”

A few minutes later, he was asked what he saw rebounding-wise. 

“I don't see five guys rebound. So then I go get five, and they rebound. It's that simple. Doesn't matter about wings, bigs, it doesn't matter. Find five guys that will rebound, rebound. Go. It's that simple.”

This is the most important issue the Celtics need to fix right now. Their three defensive rebounding percentages this preseason would have been the worst in the league, and tonight was the worst. As I’ve said before, it’s especially distressing that it’s come against three teams resting their bigs. 

Imagine if Evan Mobley and Jarrett Allen played? 

- Baylor Scheierman: I’m starting to get concerned about his shooting. I don’t want to go too crazy about it yet. He shot well in the G League last season, and he had a few decent shooting games with Boston last year, even though his overall number landed at 32%. But he shot horribly this summer, and it’s just not falling consistently enough for me to feel great about it. I’d just like to see a stretch of a few weeks where he’s shooting well. 

HIGHLIGHTS

ONE TAKE KARALIS WILL PROBABLY REGRET LATER

- We aren’t learning enough about this team in preseason

Here’s what I know for sure: The rebounding sucks and Josh Minott might be Brad Stevens’ win this summer. 

There's nothing else I can say about the unknowns of this year’s team with any certainty. Of course, preseason isn’t the time for a lot of certainty, but we’re getting robbed of real opportunities to test this group against live defenses. 

The problem with that is the process of finding out will get pushed into the regular season. That's going to mean losses piling up because we haven't seen guys get pushed by opponents. 

Of course, there's a lot we don’t see in practices that lead to decisions about playing time being made, but the practical application of what’s being taught is the real test of whether it’s sticking. Even Minott’s play can’t be trusted. He’s had good preseasons before. 

I’m starting to think the beginning of this season will be a lot tougher than we expected. The speed of the game is going to change in a big way for these guys. There's going to be a little bit of a culture shock when the Sixers roll into town in two weeks, even if Tyrese Maxey is the only healthy guy star. That's one more star than Boston has seen all preseason. 

Next up: The Celtics finish the preseason at home against Toronto on Wednesday night.