A tough loss for the Boston Celtics, but lots to like!

The Boston Celtics fell to a 117-116 loss on their opening night

The Boston Celtics started the new season with a tight loss against a talented Philadelphia 76ers team that showcased its future, rather than its present. Still, there was a lot to like from what we saw, and definitely some areas that need cleaning up.

Game 1: Sixers 117 — Celtics 116

📊 Key Stats

• The Celtics won the rebounding battle against the Sixers 42-40. More importantly, they secured the defensive glass on 32 occasions, two more than Philadelphia did on their side of the floor.

  • The defensive rebounding concerns won’t be resolved after just one game. However, with each mini-victory, confidence should grow in this unit's ability to restrict teams to single-shot possessions and ultimately control the tempo of their offense.

  • Tougher tests will await. Joel Embiid is clearly miles away from being anywhere near full fitness. And, in truth, a conversation may need to be had about his status as a star talent in the NBA if we don’t see him shine later in the year. Honestly, though, I don’t care who was on the floor against the Celtics; if they took care of their glass, then it’s something they can build on heading into Friday against the New York Knicks.

• The Celtics took 26 free-throw attempts last night. And while they could always look to get to the line more, I think it’s worth noting how much of an improvement that is from last season.

  • Of course, part of that improvement is due to Boston having more interior opportunities — both in the mid-range and in the paint — be that looking to score or create. The additional downhill focus clearly got the team to the line more than we’ve become accustomed to.

  • For reference, the Celtics averaged 19.1 free-throw attempts last season, the lowest tally in the NBA. The reason for that was that the Celtics were primarily a five-out offense, meaning there were fewer drives and cuts.

    • I’m not advocating for the team to live at the free-throw line. But, with more downhill pressure comes more chances for “gimme” buckets at the charity stripe. And, with this Celtics team, you want to maximize every advantage possible.

• Derrick White and Payton Pritchard combined to go 5-of-20 from deep last night. Pritchard was 1-of-7, White was 4-of-13.

  • I highly doubt those two have combined struggles in too many games this season. Furthermore, it’s a fair argument that their struggles could be down to it being the opening game of the year.

  • Still, when Pritchard and White are seeing their perimeter shots drop, the Celtics could be a difficult team to deal with, especially now that they’re moving more in the half-court.

• The Celtics had 21 deflections against the Sixers.

  • I harp on about deflections a bunch, and I’m assuming this season they will become a significant focus. The reason I value them is because they indicate defensive activity: Active hands in the passing lanes, pressure on ball-handlers via switches, etc.

  • The Celtics were 29th in the NBA in deflections last season (13.3 per game), primarily because of a different defensive system that pressured shooters rather than attacking ball-handlers. I’d be comfortable wagering a guess that we see the Celtics finish in or near the top-10 for deflections this season — especially if preseason and last night are genuine indicators.

💫 Star of the Game

• Jaylen Brown looked solid in his adjusted role last night. He ended the game with 25 points, 6 boards and 4 assists, shooting 9-of-18 from the field and 2-of-4 from deep.

  • Brown looked like he was prioritizing his playmaking throughout the game, as he made reads to find open guys whenever possible, with his shots primarily coming within the flow of the offense or as counters to how the defense was playing him.

  • Outside of the occasional isolation possession, which were few and far between, Brown played his role and thrived as a result. I will admit, I expected more of the offense to run through him, and I still think there will be times when that is the case.

    • White can, and likely should, thrive as the Celtics’ primary ball-handler in Jayson Tatum’s absence, allowing Brown to excel as an elite play-finisher while still showcasing his playmaking skills when he handles the ball, which he’ll do frequently.

📈 Improved Performer

• I went back and forth between Tillman and Queta on this one, but Neemy edged it out.

  • Coming into the season, Queta’s difficulties finishing around the rim (70% last season, 55th percentile among all bigs) were a serious concern for me. After all, he’s a rim-runner; finishing at the rim is part of the job description.

    • Of course, he answered those concerns with some stellar movement, finishing, and lob plays. He went 7-of-8 from the field, mixing in some dunks, lobs, lay-ups and even a baby hook from the short mid-range area. Not bad for his first game as the official starter.

  • I also want to shout out Queta’s work on the glass. He led the Celtics in rebounding, grabbing eight boards in total, including 2 on the offensive end. He put in some solid work, and looked like he could prove some people wrong this season…Including me!

    • Of course, this is just one game, and the key to improvement is consistency, so the jury remains out, although it should be impressed.

    • The final note on Queta is, at least for the first few months of the season, we should probably get used to him fouling out. However, if his fouls come like they did against the Sixers, where he was challenging guys at the rim, then I’m sure that’s something we can live with.

📋 Playbook Observation

• I was a fan of this variation of a standard Zoom action.

• The setup was the same as a normal Zoom action (A pin-down for a shooter in the corner with the big man controlling the rock on the perimeter). However, the execution was slightly different.

  • Rather than having Josh Minott come off the Anfernee Simons pin-down to receive the dribble hand-off from Tillman, Minott and Simons “split cut” once Minott’s defender made contact with the screen.

    • That allows Simons to get a quick three on the move, and while it didn’t fall, this play could become a staple if he can start finding success.

    • A key wrinkle here is how Simons' defender had already relocated to the low block, likely to close out onto Simons after the Zoom action had occurred, and he (likely) had relocated into the corner.

⚾ Curveball of the game

• I’ll keep this one short and sweet. Luka Garza was ruled out early due to concussion protocol.

  • His movement and screening both looked to be beneficial to Boston’s overall approach, and his block on Tyrese Maxey was particularly nice. I would have liked to see how he grew into the game.

  • Unfortunately, 5:44 was all the basketball God’s afforded him last night…

💬 My Take on the Game

Tough loss. The Celtics fought tooth and nail all the way through this game. They found ways to stay in the game despite Maxey and VJ Edgecombe announcing their arrival as a fearsome backcourt duo (In game one of the season — Edgecombe looks really good) and rode out some shooting slumps.

At times early in the game, the Celtics' defense appeared to get caught out with their gap-helping principles. However, they corrected those errors in the second half, which in turn led to a 16-0 run in the third quarter and swung the momentum in Boston’s direction.

I do wonder how the defense will hold up when facing a floor spacing five, though — especially as the Celtics only have Tillman as someone who can reliably play up on the perimeter without being a liability. Friday’s matchup with Karl-Anthony Towns and the New York Knicks will be an early stress test. How Boston handles facing a true stretch five will give us some genuine feedback on the floor and ceiling of the defensive unit.

Back to this game.

I thought the offense delivered on the messaging we’ve heard throughout the summer. It was up-tempo, gritty, there was movement, and the shot profile was fairly balanced, or at least it was for a Mazzulla-coached team. I was a little shocked that Baylor Scheierman didn’t get any playing time, but considering his struggles during Summer League and preseason, I totally get it.

Overall, the Celtics took care of business on the glass, found ways to score, self-corrected on the fly and fought on every possession. It wasn’t pretty, and the talent drop-off from last season is clear. But, if this is the team we’re going to get for another 81 games (at least), then it will be easy to get behind them, root for them and cheer on their individual and collective developments throughout the year.

Now it’s your turn — what did you like or dislike about the game? Let me know in the comments!