Xavier Tillman’s impact, Jayson Tatum’s disputed threes, and other things: Mailbag of the Celtics.
NBA basketball will finally resume on Thursday night. Not having any good games to watch has made for a long week.
We dug into the Celtics mailbag as the rest of the hoops community was going bonkers over JJ Redick, Doc Rivers, and the All-Star Game’s dearth of defense. All of the queries come from The Athletic’s readers.
Only minor style and clarity edits have been made to the questions.
Fans of the Celtics could not have asked for a better 2024 squad or outcomes. Our largest obstacle to achieving Banner No. 18, apart from unforeseen injuries, is our persistent default to “hero ball,” in which we stop moving and sharing the ball. Although Coach Joe (Mazzulla) emphasizes that this squad practices teamwork in the Celtics style, we often fall back on our old routines. That’s when we sometimes blow up leads and give up significant leads. Do you think this team will overcome that inclination? — Marc K.
It’s simple to point fingers at the Celtics’ poor habits. They have now lost a lot of games in the playoffs thanks to those habits. There will be doubts about their attacking strategy unless they demonstrate that they can stay focused during the crucial times.
The Celtics are no longer the same. Kristaps PorziņĖis opens out a lot. As the job demands, Derrick White shines. It seems like Jrue Holiday never misses a corner 3-pointer. Jaylen Brown and Jayson Tatum have vowed to put team success ahead of any personal honors. I’m not sure how you define hero ball or habits, but the Celtics have always performed well in whatever circumstance. When playing teams, they are 28-9.500 or higher (no other team has won more than 24 games) and 18-1 against teams whose net ratings are in the bottom ten. With a 25-3 home record and a 17-9 away record, they hold the best records both ways. They have an 8-2 record on the second leg of back-to-back games, which would translate into a 66-win regular season pace.
They are second in the league in crunch-time net rating (23.4) and first in the league in first-quarter net rating (16.7). Only once this season, in early November, have they lost three straight games, and they are still without a losing skid of three games. Even without Tatum, they would still have the best overall net rating in the league. They have been the most reliable team in the NBA without any indication to the contrary.
Have the Celtics started to accept poor shots on occasion? Yes. Are supporters still wounded from some of the recent bad points in the playoffs? Definitely. It’s reasonable to question if this group will ever be able to get over those issues on the biggest platform. However, every indication points to this being the finest Celtics squad in more than.
Great team. I’m curious in the statistics for a play that my friends and I detest: When Tatum dribbles a few times after winning the ball at the top of the key with ten or so seconds remaining in the game, then makes the contested three-pointer. This disputed shot appears to have a poor percentage. Thirty percent? Rather than virtually always taking that shot, he is passing a little more this year. Perhaps he is making a bit extra room as a result. How much does he shoot and dribble on the contested top of the key, though? Has Mazzulla addressed it in any way? and your ideas. Regards! — Les G.
The situation determines the worth of the photographs in my opinion. One of the top goals should be to leave no time on the clock when the Celtics have a chance to take the game to overtime. Tatum should still aim for more than a closely guarded 3-pointer, of course, but the main objective should be to either win the game or give the Celtics a chance to go to OT. Even with Chris Paul, Stephen Curry, and Klay Thompson on the court, Tatum was unable to force Golden State to switch and had to settle for an exceedingly difficult shot over the longest, most athletic perimeter. I still don’t like his final shot in regulation against the Warriors back in December.