5 Takeaways From Celtics Win vs. Washington

I'm a little late to the party

Yesterday was Mother’s Day over here in the UK. I spent the day with my wife and daughter. As such, I never got around to writing up my takeaways from the win over the Washington Wizards.

So, let’s fix that, shall we?

1. The Tatum/Neemy Connection

I’ve always been a fan of how Jayson Tatum maximizes the big men around him. When it was Robert Williams, he would happily toss up lobs left and right. When it was Kristaps Porzingis, he would lean into the pick-and-pop, or look to feed Porzingis on the post after he’d rolled and ducked into position.

One of my favorite pick-and-roll bigs from recent Celtics times was Daniel Theis. I thought he was incredibly versatile as a pick-and-roll threat.

And now, it would appear that Neemias Queta is the latest big man who will reap the benefits of developing a two-man game with Tatum.

Since returning from injury, Tatum has dished out a total of 18 assists. 6 of them have gone to Neemy. Interestingly, four of those 6 came against Washington.

I’m aware that not every assist Tatum has dished to Neemy has come via a PnR. Still, that doesn’t change the upside that pairing those two together can bring. It’s also clear (and has been for a while now) that Tatum excels when there’s a big man hovering around the dunker spot, as he likes to fire off those high-low entry passes.

Another key facet of pairing Neemy and Tatum is that Neemy wants to be as beneficial to Tatum as Tatum will be to him.

“I’ve been figuring out how to give him open looks, how to give him space to attack certain mismatches,” Queta said when speaking to the media after the game. “It’s a work in progress, and I feel like we’re trending in the right direction.”

As I wrote for NESN after the game, “Queta has been directly involved in five of Tatum's 11 made threes since his return from injury. Three of those involvements came via a direct assist, while the other two were courtesy of a screen assist.”

Both players are finding ways to maximize the other’s impact. While that’s true of everyone on the Celtics — as they continually buy into the value of the team, rather than the individual — it’s exciting to see a new two-man game developing ahead of the postseason. Especially when that two-man game could help unlock a stringent half-court defense in the deeper rounds.

2. Exploiting Weaknesses Part 1

Even though the Celtics endured an arctic expedition from deep, they still found a way to grind out a win.

Boston has shot under 30% from deep on 15 occasions this season. They’re 5-10 on those cold shooting nights. So, it’s clear that the math wasn’t on their side in terms of success rate. Fortunately, a dominant performance on the glass (both offensive and defensive) gave the Celtics the boost they needed.

17 of the Celtics’ points came on 2nd chance buckets, giving them a +6 advantage over the Wizards, who got 11 2nd chance points themselves.

Yet, the key factor in how the Celtics dominated the glass was the advantage it gave them when looking to control the tempo. According to NBA Stats, the Celtics are dead last in pace this season, while Washington is 6th — which explains their 28 fast-break points.

So, by controlling the rebounding battle, the Celtics could execute at a speed that made sense for their offense. They could set things up. Get into action, or secondary actions, and work the ball into a high-quality shot.

That was only possible because the Celtics exploited the Wizards’ weakness when rebounding the rock — they’re 23rd in the league this season.

3. Exploiting Weaknesses Part 2

Rebounding is only one of the Wizards' weaknesses. The other primary issue they have is defending the rim, or more aptly, anywhere that counts as two points.

Shocker, right?

According to Cleaning The Glass, the Wizards are 23rd in the NBA for rim defense, allowing 68.3% of shots to fall. They don’t fare much better in defending long twos, either. They’re allowing opponents to shoot 44.1% from between the free-throw line extended and the three-point line.

That got me thinking…How many games have the Wizards won when their opponent shoots above 50% from 2-point range?

Answer?

They’re 12-35 in those outings.

The Celtics destroyed the Wizards in the paint — shooting 72% within four feet of the rim. With so many open lanes to the rack, it makes sense that Boston’s mid-range game was minimal, except for the occasional floater or push shot.

However, had the Wizards clogged the lanes, Boston could easily have gone to work in the mid-range, attacking out of elbow actions, hitting short-rollers to open things up on a redirect — those sort of things.

When you have the level of floor spacing that’s available to the Celtics, whether the shots are falling or not, poor interior defenses are in a bind. They have to space out to the three-point line. There’s no other option, unless they want to get bombarded with treys.

The issue is that floor spacing is what accentuates the very flaw the poor interior defensive team is trying to hide.

It’s a tough spot to be in.

“It was just taking what the defense gives you,” Tatum said after the game. “Neemy (Neemias Queta) played exceptionally that first half, and it was kind of evident that they were going to focus on the ball handlers not shooters, and Neemias getting behind the defense and getting offensive rebounds and present himself they had to make adjustments, and we just played off of that.”

Credit to the Celtics for forcing the issue, maximizing the Wizards’ weakness, and staying the course as Washington looked to make adjustments.

4. The Defense Stays Locked In

Over their last 20 games, the Celtics have held opponents to under 100 points 12 times (including the 3 games in which they allowed exactly 100). If we expand this to the entire season, they’ve held opponents to 100 or less in 20 games so far.

Mazzulla’s team is sixth in the NBA for defensive rating this season, per Cleaning The Glass, which has a built-in garbage time filter. When you add in the 2nd-ranked offense, the Celtics are playing at a contending level on both sides of the ball.

Granted, the Wizards aren’t exactly a team that you worry about dropping 130+ on your dome. However, they’re still an NBA team, with NBA talent. If you give them even the slightest bit of daylight, they’re going to cook you.

That’s the nature of the NBA.

So, you’ve got to give the Celtics credit for the work they’re doing on that side of the floor. Even with Tatum being integrated back into the rotation, the defense — and thus the defensive communication — hasn’t missed a beat.

Tougher tests will await. No one is debating that. But holding opponents to under 100 points in 20 games out of 67 is impressive, regardless of the opponent.

5. Tatum Needs More Looks Off The Catch

I’ve seen the rage-baiting online. A few years back, I coined it “Tatum for Trending” in what is a play on words for the old “Knicks for Clicks” adage.

Ignore that noise.

Tatum is four games into his Achilles recovery. He’s playing well.

I don’t mean well for a guy who is four games back from a major injury.

I just mean well. Like good.

Right now, the three-point shot isn’t there. Ideally, he should be taking more catch-and-shoot jumpers — at least at this point in his development.

After 4 games, Tatum has attempted 40 threes. Only 8 of them have come off the catch. For reference, he’s shooting 37.5% on those 8 attempts.

Historically, Tatum has always been better when shooting off the catch. It’s an easier shot to make. You’re in rhythm. You’re often open. And you’re probably coming off a flare screen or some form of cut.

Instead, 32 of Tatum’s 40 threes have been off the bounce. He’s converting at a 22.6% clip. Last season, albeit on a significantly larger sample size, Tatum took 520 threes off the dribble, and even then, he only converted at 32.9%.

Right now, as he’s trying to build some rhythm, getting him more catch-and-shoot looks makes sense. Of course, that’s easier said than done. But, with his role currently being a blend of off-and-on-ball reps, it should be easy to get him some additional gimmies.

I’m not worried about Tatum’s perimeter shooting stroke. If that’s our biggest concern with him, everything’s going to work out just fine. But for now, the numbers (and the eye test) tell us that shooting off the bounce is a work in progress.

So be it.