BOSTON – Now and again, confetti nonetheless falls from the rafters at TD Backyard. In a Saturday evening Celtics thrashing, a small piece of paper landed on Derrick White’s head. On Sunday, a couple of items have been collected by an excited courtside fan who instantly handed them to a younger boy sitting a couple of rows again.
The sporadically falling confetti serves as a reminder that the Celtics are lower than 4 months faraway from a postseason run that noticed them go 16-3 en path to an 18th championship. It’s a becoming sight: a Payton Pritchard-led Celtics crew leads by 40, and the falling celebratory tokens intensify the lopsided scoreboard.
An evening after the Celtics blew out the 76ers by 50, they ran the Toronto Raptors out of the constructing, too (except for a fourth quarter that featured few gamers prone to make both groups’ roster). The pair of resounding dwelling wins got here only a week after two preseason victories in opposition to the Denver Nuggets in Abu Dhabi.
The preseason dominance demonstrates a sentiment that Joe Mazzulla and the remainder of the Celtics have expressed since coaching camp started: final 12 months’s championship is final 12 months’s, and there might be no championship hangover in Boston this season.
Thus far, that’s been the case no matter who has been on the ground. On Sunday, a lineup that includes Jordan Walsh, Lonnie Walker IV, Sam Hauser, Payton Pritchard and Neemias Queta jumped out to a 20-point first quarter lead in opposition to the Raptors, who had two common season starters on the market in Scottie Barnes (an All-Star) and Jakob Poeltl.
Jordan Walsh, who spent most of final season within the G-League, capitalized on his preseason begin, posting 16 factors and 10 rebounds. Whereas many of the Celtics’ rotation gamers have been out — Jaylen Brown, Jayson Tatum, Al Horford, Kristaps Porzingis, Jrue Vacation, Derrick White, Luke Kornet, and Xavier Tillman have been all unavailable — the Celtics nonetheless locked down defensively to make sure the win.
“We all know what the usual is, being right here,” Walsh advised reporters after the sport. “We all know what the duty of being a Celtic is — taking part in protection.”
Jordan Walsh was requested about how right this moment’s beginning group of him, Lonnie Walker, Sam Hauser, and Payton Pritchard didn’t miss a beat:
“We all know what the usual is being right here. We all know what the duty of being a Celtics is — taking part in protection.”
(By way of @CelticsCLNS) pic.twitter.com/psMWAdjp0H
— Noa Dalzell (@NoaDalzell) October 14, 2024
All of it begins with Joe Mazzulla and the coach employees, a younger, analytically-driven group who’ve collectively created an offensive and defensive system that breeds profitable.
Mazzulla Ball, because it’s turn into colloquially recognized, is a three-point-heavy offense that facilities on making simple reads, creating two-on-one benefits, and emphasizing the plain connection between protection and offense. The ideas are comparatively easy, however the schemes are complicated, and the proper learn is the results of a complete lot of number-crunching that gamers have discovered to include into their decision-making.
Final 12 months, the Celtics used Mazzulla Ball to outscore opponents by 10.7 factors per sport — the fifth-best level differential in NBA historical past. In addition they ran probably the most environment friendly offense in NBA historical past, scoring 122.2 factors per 100 possessions, and posted the second-best protection within the league.
Within the nationwide media, plenty of the profitable was attributed to the sheer expertise on the roster — and there was definitely no scarcity of that — however an underrated a part of final 12 months’s success was that the crew not often missed a beat within the absence of key gamers.
Within the 2023-24 season, the Celtics went 21-4 with out Kristaps Porzingis, 7-1 with out Jayson Tatum, and 12-0 with out Jaylen Brown. And, it was two Celtics bench gamers, not stars, who held the most effective web rankings within the league final season. Sam Hauser (+14.2), Payton Pritchard (+13.6), Derrick White (+12.5), and Luke Kornet (+12.1) rounded out the top-four particular person rankings.
Thus far this preseason, the Celtics are outscoring opponents by 20.5 factors per sport, whereas no different crew has a web ranking of greater than +8.9. By 4 video games, they’ve the league’s highest offensive ranking. Payton Pritchard once more boasts the second-best web ranking within the league, at +17.8 in 4 video games performed.
Preseason outcomes don’t actually matter, however the Celtics’ dominance is indicative of a bigger pattern: that Joe Mazzulla and his employees have created a tradition of profitable that, up to now, has withstood substitution patterns and accidents.
Pritchard has completely embodied the stability between pursuing particular person greatness — he’s made it clear that that’s what he believes he’s able to — whereas nonetheless taking part in throughout the Celtics system and thriving in his function because the backup level guard.
“I’ve massive goals for myself, and other people wish to put limits, and I put no limits on myself,” Pritchard mentioned. “However I even have an understanding of what’s in entrance of me — we’ve got an incredible crew that might win one other championship.”
“On the finish of the day, I’m a winner and I wish to do no matter it takes to assist the crew win. I’m not going to take a seat out right here and say ‘oh, I deserve extra.’ We simply received a championship, and I wish to go and do my function the most effective I can. However, if there’s an damage or something, I need to have the ability to step up in these moments and assist the crew.”
There’s been an plain degree of focus, an unapologetic mindset, that’s permeated the starters who’ve performed this preseason. Jaylen Brown started his preseason dwelling debut by making a “too small” gesture after scoring on 76ers undrafted rookie Justin Edwards.
Brown, contemporary off a Finals MVP and what he’s deemed the most effective summer season of his life, racked up 18 factors (7-12 FG), 8 rebounds, and 4 assists in 23 minutes on Saturday.
The Celtics starters have been dealing with a bunch of end-of-bench gamers, however, for higher or worse, they didn’t act prefer it for a minute.
“It’s about us. So, each time we step out on the ground, it doesn’t actually matter who the opponent is,” Brown mentioned after the win over the 76ers. “We simply gotta play our normal of basketball. That’s the tone that we set all through coaching camp, and that’s the mindset that we’ve got.”
It’s nonetheless early, however the Celtics have additionally appeared to have prevented the notorious championship hangover. Whereas Nuggets coach Michael Malone lamented his crew’s poor conditioning after three consecutive preseason losses, Mazzulla has routinely praised what he’s seen throughout the board at coaching camp. There is no such thing as a speak of a title protection; as a substitute, the crew is on the assault.
“The phrase ‘defending a title’ is a really passive-aggressive time period,” Mazzulla famously mentioned on the Locked on Celtics podcast this summer season. “Should you have a look at the animal kingdom, a few of the strongest animals don’t defend; they’re probably the most aggressive, and so they assault probably the most. Whether or not you’ve received or haven’t received, your mindset can’t change. You need to perceive what goes into profitable and shedding, decide to the small print each day, and stay aggressive. You’re not defending one thing, you’re attacking a brand new objective.”
Likening a championship pursuit to the animal kingdom may sound unusual at first sight, however the Celtics are each used to and purchased into unorthodox comparisons and views from Mazzulla. And, they’re completely satisfied to take part in a grueling coaching camp in preparation of one other likelihood at a title run.
“Joe Mazzulla is a psycho in a great way,” Jaylen Brown mentioned final month. “It’s most likely one of many harder coaching camps I’ve had by way of depth conditioning, physicality, and defensive warrior-type mentality.”
Jrue Vacation joked that the early days of camp have been so troublesome, he wished he may have missed them as he did final season.
Jrue Vacation jokes about how troublesome coaching camp has been by way of two days:
“I used to be traded final 12 months, and I feel I missed the primary day. I want I missed the primary day this 12 months too.” pic.twitter.com/luOQq8msYk
— Noa Dalzell (@NoaDalzell) September 26, 2024
“I used to be traded final 12 months, and I feel I missed the primary day,” mentioned Vacation. “I want I missed the primary day this 12 months, too.”
The fact is that no NBA crew has received back-to-back titles for the reason that Kevin Durant Warriors did it in 2017. In actual fact, no defending champion — sorry, Joe — has even made it previous the second spherical since then.
The Celtics have an extended highway to go — they haven’t even raised the 18th banner — however by way of a month of coaching camp and preseason dominance, it’s apparent that their 36-year-old coach has created a system that offers them pretty much as good an opportunity as anybody — irrespective of who’s taking part in, or who they’re taking part in in opposition to.
