After the sport, Abby Chin requested Payton Pritchard if there was any takeaway from the loss. The Celtics guard informed the media, “I don’t even know if there’s a takeaway from this sport. I believe you simply form of flip the web page. They simply punked us, and also you gotta prepare for the following one.”
Effectively, Payton, I’ve just a few takeaways for you, for those who permit me. However sure, the Rockets punked you — beginning with the offensive glass.
#2 – Bullied by the larger crew
At first look, the field rating would possibly recommend that the Celtics did an honest job rebounding the ball with 14 offensive boards. The Rockets grabbed solely 12, so technically, the Celtics have been higher on the glass final night time? Effectively, no.
The Rockets “solely” had 12 offensive rebounds, however they missed simply 35 pictures. In the meantime, the Celtics grabbed 14 offensive boards however missed 63 field-goal makes an attempt. The field rating numbers would possibly look flattering at first, however the actuality was fairly totally different. Led by Steven Adams, the Rockets dominated the Celtics with extra measurement and grit on the few possessions they really missed a shot.
Per CleaningTheGlass.com, on half-court possessions solely, the Rockets rebounded 57% of their misses — the very best mark for any crew this season throughout the league. After all, measurement is a matter, however the Celtics aren’t the one small crew. This rebounding dilemma must be addressed if Boston desires an opportunity to compete — particularly in video games the place opponents are on hearth.
#3 – The Rockets launching from deep
Sure, the Celtics received bullied, but it surely’s additionally honest to say the Rockets received fortunate. Josh Okogie went 3-for-5 from downtown, Reed Sheppard 4-for-5, Tari Eason 4-for-7, and even Amen Thompson hit a 3.
Most of those three-pointers have been open — not as a result of the Celtics tousled, however as a result of they selected to break down the paint to decelerate drives and post-ups, leaving Houston’s shooters open. The Rockets overachieved from deep, hitting 66% of their threes on 29 makes an attempt.
Regardless of the capturing luck, that strategy made sense — the Rockets don’t have many elite shooters. The larger difficulty was that, even whereas defending the rim, the Celtics nonetheless received dominated inside: 81% effectivity on the rim and 35 free throws allowed. So how did that occur?
I don’t have metrics to guage the Celtics’ willingness to run again in transition, so I’ll simply share just a few performs from a stretch within the second and third quarters the place it felt just like the Rockets merely determined to run just a little more durable. Some Celtics hustled again — others, not a lot. I’ll allow you to make your individual evaluation with these clips from final night time’s sport.
And-one for Amen Thompson in transition:
And-one for Jabari Smith in transition:
A capturing foul on Alperen Sengun in transition:
The Celtics will typically be the underdog this season, like towards the Rockets final night time. And when that occurs, they will’t afford to be outrun like this and anticipate a unique final result.
The Celtics rapidly understood they wouldn’t have the spacing to beat Houston within the half-court. The numbers confirmed it: 1.27 factors per possession for the Rockets in half-court play versus simply 0.8 for Boston. The one approach to shut that hole — even just a little — was by means of transition offense.
So, the Celtics have been ultra-aggressive on the ball, attempting to power the Rockets into tight areas and rushed passes.
Baylor Scheierman additionally pressured three offensive fouls to cease Houston, exhibiting his basketball IQ and willingness to place his physique on the road.
However as soon as once more, the Celtics’ transition spark got here from their new quantity 8, Josh Minott.
#6 – Minott led by instance
Whereas many of the Celtics have been outmuscled and outworked, Josh Minott led the best way — exhibiting his explosiveness and energy by leaping over larger our bodies for offensive rebounds. Between his steals and offensive boards, Minott generated 5 further probabilities for Boston.
As talked about above, the Celtics will want these further possessions all season as a result of the half-court creation and spacing from final yr are gone. Boston’s means to get to the rim in half-court conditions may be among the many league’s worst: thirtieth in rim frequency, seventeenth in rim effectivity, and thirtieth in free-throw fee.
The teaching employees clearly understood that. The Celtics went from twenty fourth to third in pressured turnovers and 18th to seventh in offensive rebounds. Minott may be the participant who finest embodies this new id. On this play once more, as quickly as he will get the defensive rebound, he runs and finds Chris Boucher reducing to the rim.
They talked about all of it summer time — the Celtics have to run. Minott is a runner, and the remainder of the roster must comply with.
#7 – Jaylen Brown’s half-court troubles
One of many gamers who may benefit most from higher spacing is Jaylen Brown. The Rockets’ protection utterly swallowed Boston’s spacing and compelled Brown into poor choices. Ime Udoka is aware of him nicely and crafted a defensive sport plan that funneled him into robust possessions.
The objective was easy: as soon as Brown received the ball, take away his spacing and power him to both drive into site visitors or accept contested pull-ups towards lengthy defenders like Jabari Smith Jr. or Kevin Durant.
It labored. Brown made solely a few layups in half-court possessions however took seven pull-ups and made only one. On prime of that, he didn’t draw a single free throw and dedicated 5 turnovers — half of the crew’s whole.
Defensively, too, Brown had lapses — forgetting to run again in transition or dropping his man off-ball. In opposition to a crew like Houston, with Sengun orchestrating cuts from the put up, off-ball consciousness have to be sharp.
Final night time, the Rockets managed to bait Jaylen Brown into being the worst model of himself. Now it’s time for him — and the crew — to show the web page earlier than dealing with the Utah Jazz.
#8 – Boston attempting the zone
Final yr’s Playoffs confirmed that the Rockets might be bothered by a zone protection — particularly the Golden State Warriors’ 2-3 tandem zone, like within the instance under:
Nevertheless, issues are a bit totally different now. First, the Celtics don’t have the defensive masterminds of Draymond Inexperienced or Jimmy Butler to trigger that form of disruption. Boston’s zone construction final night time was softer, and the Rockets repeatedly managed to get touches in the course of the zone, collapsing your complete setup.
Additionally, the Rockets spacing is now method higher with Kevin Durant. Plus, the younger core, lead by Sengun and Jabari Smith Jr., aren’t afraid to pull-up from deep or the mid-range anymore.
#9 – Pritchard and White usage-increase impression
Derrick White is among the many gamers with the largest utilization enhance from final season to this yr (+6.1% in utilization fee per CleaningTheGlass.com). Pritchard isn’t far behind, with a +4% bump.
It’s regular to see a slight drop in effectivity with the next load, however the decline for each has been dizzying.
Whereas poor capturing luck performs a component, there’s extra to it. White hasn’t been in a position to generate the identical high quality seems to be with much less spacing. His rim effectivity dropped from 71% to 42%, and from 56% to 25% within the floater zone. Taking pictures variance explains a part of it, however these rim numbers level to an even bigger drawback.
As for Pritchard, the identical mixture of dangerous luck and expanded position applies. With extra creation duty, he’s taking many extra mid-range pictures — 3 times as usually as final season. It reveals versatility but additionally hurts his effectivity. Nonetheless, he’s been strong from that space, which creates gravity and opens lanes for teammates.
Each are studying on the fly to deal with larger roles, and regardless of the tough begin, there’s motive for optimism. Nevertheless, defenses will alter rapidly, and that scouting report is coming. Final night time, Houston’s elite protection held White to 5 factors and Pritchard to 14.
#10 – The Celtics are at their finest with Queta on the court docket
I don’t prefer to dive into minutes or lineup debates too early within the season, however the eye take a look at suggests the Celtics look their finest when Neemias Queta is on the ground — regardless that he’s averaging simply 22 minutes per sport.
The area he creates together with his screens, his vertical risk, and his rim safety give this undersized crew an actual probability to compete.
The season remains to be younger, however up to now, the Celtics are outscoring opponents by 12.5 factors per 100 possessions with Queta on the court docket (156 minutes, excluding rubbish time). The protection specifically has been elite throughout these minutes. After all, the pattern is small, and a part of that’s as a result of lack of a real backup heart, however Queta’s state of affairs shall be price monitoring because the season unfolds.
