The Celtics had probabilities to take management in Brooklyn, however by no means discovered the consistency wanted to steal the sport from the Nets. Boston flashed moments of excellent course of and stretches of powerful protection, but the center quarters — and a late Michael Porter Jr. surge — proved an excessive amount of to beat. Nonetheless, there have been loads of notable performances and developments price digging into from an NBA Cup recreation that they couldn’t determine. Listed here are 10 takeaways from the loss.
Shedding The Center Quarters
There’s no shying away from it, this one stings for Boston. That they had their probabilities, and momentum swung their method at occasions, but it surely felt like they have been enjoying on their heels the entire night time.
After scoring simply 12 factors with 4 minutes left within the 1st quarter, they discovered some solutions and outscored the Nets 16-3 the remainder of the way in which. They adopted this up by dropping the 2nd and third quarter by a mixed complete of 70-49.
They’re gearing up for a troublesome stretch into the beginning of December, so dropping a recreation to the two-win Nets is discouraging. Boston pulled away on the finish of the primary matchup, but it surely wasn’t precisely probably the most convincing recreation both.
Of the intense spots on this one, Queta could have been the loudest. He struggled with Claxton at occasions, however Boston wanted every part he may give them offensively to hold round.
His screening capability and timing when slipping towards the rim have been a useful counter in opposition to Brooklyn’s bigs defending on the degree of the display screen. His decision-making in these situations was distinctive as nicely.
With Claxton up excessive to hedge the choose and roll, Queta maintains his display screen lengthy sufficient for Simons to carry Claxton’s consideration. He rolls into open house and identifies a 4-on-3 benefit of their favor. You may argue that the layup and the go are each good choices, but it surely’s the decisiveness that makes this work. Any hesitation from Queta and the benefit dries up shortly.
In opposition to an aggressive protection, typically the most suitable choice is to ghost a display screen, as Queta does right here. He catches Claxton off guard, rolls the place Simons can discover him and sprays it out to the nook.
This kind of consciousness has marked a extra delicate enchancment that’s fueling Queta’s ascension.
Jaylen performed the whole 1st quarter, solely selecting up a single foul. He grabbed two extra within the 2nd quarter, and wound up along with his fifth on the six minute mark of the third. The Celtics challenged the decision, and had what felt like a stable case. Nonetheless, the refs deemed Terance Mann made marginal contact previous to Brown hitting him along with his off arm.
This was a major name as Brown was as much as 9 factors within the quarter, serving to to chop the Nets lead down to 5. Brooklyn closed the quarter on a 21-9 run to seize a 15 level lead after Brown went to the bench.
A Quiet Evening From Derrick White
In a recreation the place Boston was starved for scoring, they wanted Derrick White to be able to reply the decision. He’s been in a significantly better rhythm currently, however he merely didn’t have it tonight.
White completed with six factors, his second lowest complete of the season. He shot 2/13 from the sector, together with 1/7 from 3PT vary. His off night time was punctuated within the final 5 minutes with a missed level clean layup, and a nook three the caught the highest nook of the backboard.
Pritchard Pale After The First
Payton got here on sturdy on this one, giving Boston life within the 1st quarter with three 3-pointers. It regarded like he was arrange for one more huge recreation, however his scoring wasn’t there the remainder of the way in which. He managed simply 4 factors in quarters 2, 3 and 4.
The most important points stemmed from Brooklyn’s dimension, mobility and hole assist. Their lineups didn’t function a single participant shorter than 6’5, and their bigs are agile. This allowed for only a few clear driving lanes, and restricted open appears with bigs up excessive to limit pull-up threes.
Pritchard merely couldn’t create in opposition to all that size.
Simon’s Choosing Up The Scoring
When Brown sat as a consequence of foul bother, Simons understood that they’d want him to step up. He scored 13 of his 23 factors through the remaining two quarters. He managed to persistently beat his man off the dribble to get to the paint — one thing that the remainder of the staff struggled with because of the Nets dimension and size.
This resulted in Simons enjoying 33 minutes, probably the most of his Celtics tenure thus far. He’s shot the ball successfully from three, but it surely’d be a pleasant increase if Simons may proceed to take his drives deeper into the paint. He’s averaging simply 4.8 drives per recreation, which is significantly decrease than every of his earlier 4 years in Portland.
He nonetheless appears like he’s looking for his place within the offense, and his minutes have dipped currently in consequence. This may very well be a step in the correct path, as Mazzulla has rewarded gamers for performing when referred to as on.
Boston is taking a slower strategy with the rookie than most hoped for after his thrilling begin. He’s performed beneath 10 minutes per recreation for just a few weeks now, and was a DNP-CD over the last two.
In opposition to Brooklyn, he began the 4th quarter, and completed as a +12 in simply 5 minutes. It wasn’t probably the most impactful minutes — he acquired beat off the dribble a pair occasions — however you’ll be able to nonetheless see the motor he performs with, and the satisfaction he has on the defensive finish.
It’s not going to be excellent on a regular basis for the 19-year-old, but it surely’s possessions like this that present what he’s able to. It’s noteworthy as nicely that Mazzulla referred to as on him because the staff was looking for vitality and solutions.
Michael Porter Jr. Caught Hearth
Porter Jr. is having a really good yr in Brooklyn. He’s shortly emerged as their high scoring choice, however he’s distinctive in the truth that he doesn’t want the ball lengthy to do injury. Out of all gamers scoring 20+ factors per recreation, Porter Jr. has the third lowest common seconds and dribbles per contact.
He turned it on within the 4th quarter, scoring 16 of his 33 factors. He does a fantastic job utilizing screens to create openings, and if he will get his toes set, that shot goes up.
It turns into much more troublesome when you fall behind on the display screen as a result of he’s able to getting downhill, and has good chemistry with Claxton. It felt like each Celtics run ended with a closely contested Porter jumper.
Together with Michael Porter Jr., Nic Claxton was an issue all night time for the Celtics.
He’s a particularly helpful playmaker in dribble handoff actions, surveying the protection and making choices on when to maintain vs go it. It pulls the Celtics bigs removed from the paint and turns into fairly exhausting to cope with once you’re accounting for his screening, passing, rolling and driving capability without delay.
With Claxton within the recreation, Brooklyn had a 130 offensive score and a 104.3 defensive score. Porter Jr. completed the sport, however Claxton acquired them off to a robust begin and carried their vitality all through.
Jordan Walsh Retains Constructing
Jordan Walsh continues to stack nice performances. He’s rebounding, getting out in transition and discovering methods to assist on offense with out the ball. It’s issues that really feel routine like setting well timed off-ball screens, or relocating to open house, however he’s taking strides from even the beginning of this yr.
Regardless of the scoring explosion from Michael Porter Jr., Walsh did fairly nicely with that matchup. He spent a number of time face guarding him, and slithered round screens to disclaim straightforward appears.
It’s thrilling that Walsh appears desirous to tackle the problem of defending the opposite groups finest scorers, and the staff feels assured about it too. Except for Hugo, Walsh was the one different Celtic to complete the loss with a optimistic +/-.
