As the Celtics’ lead started slipping away in the third quarter, frustration began to boil on their bench.
For Joe Mazzulla, this wasn’t simply a preseason game. He’s treated every moment leading into this season with a purpose.
Everything looked great for the Celtics in the first half, when they were generating open looks on what seemed like every possession and built a lead as large as 27. But when things unraveled in the third, Mazzulla’s patience wore thin. The Celtics were too sloppy. Too many turnovers and fouls. Then Mazzulla lost his cool with an official during a timeout, resulting in a technical foul. As the Celtics’ lead suddenly slipped to eight, Mazzulla called a quick timeout.
The Celtics responded, going on a 9-0 run. Their talent prevailed against the Knicks’ backups as they ultimately cruised to a 123-110 victory. They looked great for stretches, especially offensively as they flashed their potential. But it wasn’t perfect, and Tuesday proved to be a necessary tune-up as the Celtics shake off the cobwebs and continue to build chemistry with a new look.
“It’s not always gonna go our way, but how quickly can we get it back to playing our basketball?” Mazzulla said.
“I think it takes time, right?” Mazzulla added. “I think we’re still learning about each other. It was the first time our guys really played significant minutes together and there’s just a feeling out process there. I liked our approach even when it wasn’t going our way. I think that’s gonna happen. I still thought we were playing physical basketball, we just weren’t executing on both ends of the floor.
“And so I think if you can maintain your approach and your competitive nature, and then constantly drill the execution, I think that’s good. And so I really like where our guys are at mentally.”
Takeaways from Tuesday’s win:
– For the first time this preseason, the Celtics started their expected lineup of Derrick White, Jrue Holiday, Jayson Tatum, Jaylen Brown and Kristaps Porzingis. It’s still unclear if this will be the opening night lineup, though it makes the most sense to maximize their talent and personnel. It’s probably the most fearsome unit in the league that has no obvious flaw on both on offense and defense. That group looked strong to open the game, especially offensively as they produced a ton of open looks from deep. They were a little sloppy defensively, however, allowing Knicks center Mitchell Robinson to roam free for a few putback buckets.
The starting unit was extremely sloppy to open the second half, though. They committed six fouls in the opening four minutes as they quickly got into the penalty, and turnovers piled up in the third quarter. But they pulled it together on both ends to end the quarter strong.
Tatum and Brown played 30 minutes, while Holiday played 29, Porzingis 28 and White 24 as they all took most of the fourth off.
Mazzulla has not announced a regular starting lineup and likely won’t, as he’s insisted it doesn’t matter and his group can play in different ways. He went with a double-big lineup of Porzingis and Al Horford with his first substitution of the game, and there will likely be nights when Horford starts, which would force one of White and Holiday off the bench.
The Celtics seem encouraged with their progress among the top six as they continue to get acclimated with each other and different lineups.
“I think so far, so good,” Brown said. “I think we’re still learning and building off one another. I think the more that we get out there together and we got a lot of guys committed to trying to do the right things, trying to make the right places, trying to get each other involved. So as time progresses, our chemistry is just gonna build.”
– Don’t tell Horford it’s only the preseason. Maybe there was a little pep in his step coming off the bench. Whatever the case, the veteran big man was certainly treating Tuesday like a real game with his effort as he made a handful of hustle plays. On one sequence, he knocked a ball away at the defensive rim to prevent a Knicks second chance before hustling from behind to slam the ball off Donte DiVincenzo out of bounds. On another, he missed a 3-pointer, followed it and ripped an offensive rebound away from DaQuan Jeffries before finding Tatum for a wide-open 3-pointer.
Horford played 23 minutes and was all over the place with eight points, three rebounds and even pushed the Celtics for some transition looks as he finished with three assists. He also had a block and a steal. He was everywhere.
– Tatum has clearly been working on his post game and showcased it a few times this preseason. He played a little bully-ball on two possessions when he drew a smaller Knicks defender in the post and backed them in easily for a bucket. Tatum finished with 28 points as he hit five 3-pointers and had a couple nice drives to the hoop but it looks like he could be adding even more to his offensive repertoire in the post.
– Mazzulla kept the rotation tight for the first three quarters, including Sam Hauser and Payton Pritchard on the second unit in addition to Luke Kornet in some double-big lineup combinations.
– The Celtics’ offense was unstoppable in the first half. They had 55 points through the game’s first 15 minutes as they generated one open look after another. They were 16-for-29 from deep in the opening 24 minutes. They finished with 52 attempts from long range. The offense seemed to look too easy at times.
“A lot of open looks,” Brown said. “Just gotta be able to be ready, step in and knock them down. We shoot the ball at all five positions, that’s going to be tough to guard. It’s gonna be a lot of nights like that, nights that we’re not hitting shots, we still have to find ways to be productive. Those are some of the things we have to prepare for.”
