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Before any talks of notching another banner for the Boston Celtics kick in, Joe Mazzulla and his squad have much to figure out in their rotations. The ultimate tragedy of having a lot of talent would be the burden of managing all of them such that they fit. Jaylen Brown and Jayson Tatum were already big challenges, but adding Al Horford, Kristaps Porzingis, and Jrue Holiday makes it tougher. Their curse in the wealth of talent showed in the losses to the Minnesota Timberwolves and Philadelphia 76ers. This is where the Celtics' biggest disappointment was exposed.
The Celtics' talent and schematics conundrum
Joe Mazzulla has a clear-cut list of scoring options by the name of Jayson Tatum, Jaylen Brown, and Kritsaps Porzingis. Their ability to stretch out the floor has been phenomenal. The testament to this would be the variety of perimeter-based sets they could run. Minutes distribution among the stars does not seem to be a prominent issue. The main drawback, however, is what plays are designed for who and what the backup play is. In their loss against the Sixers, the Celtics' biggest disappointment came in the last shot of the game. With Tatum being covered at the top of the key, in a play supposedly designed for him, the pass immediately went to Kristaps Porzingis without much off-ball movement.
While the Celtics' stretch big was reliable from that range, he unveiled that the shot was wonky and took accountability after the loss. The release looked off and the shot clearly did not go in. Obviously, the Celtics had other mistakes down the stretch. But, the usage of static late-game plays may have cost them the seat atop the Eastern Conference standings. A quick contrast would be the Derrick White putback where everyone involved was able to get away from their defenders with two of the Celtics players ready to clean up the boards if the initial shot did not go in.
What can Joe Mazzulla do to prevent these struggles?
Jayson Tatum will always be the number-one option on offense. He leads the Celtics in points per game and field goals attempted by averaging 28.4 points and 19.4 attempts. He gets to be the first Celtics player trapped if the opposing team wants a broken play. Porzingis and Brown would be the other players locked down. A little bit more off-ball movement and some capacity of having a fallback option would help them. The team needed a three. But, they were clearly not prepared to take away defenders from both Tatum and Porzingis before the inbound.
This Celtics team has the ability to go all the way and it has not been 10 games into the season. But, practicing their execution and getting their schematics in place before the postseason would do wonders. A need to get away from traps such that they do not have broken plays needs to be addressed urgently. The Celtics had the late-game run to nearly even it up but just could not knock the shot down. An attempt from way out from Kristaps Porzingis with Jayson Tatum backing down nearly at halfcourt, unavailable for the emergency pass, would simply not cut it. Overall, it looked like the biggest Celtics disappointment so far.
Other issues like the bench's production get better over time and with team chemistry. But, getting better at game-winning sets is an urgent concern such that they reach Banner 18 come summer.
