Boston’s stars are buying in on offense, even when they don’t have the ball.
BOSTON – The Boston Celtics have five All-Stars. Five players fully capable of putting up 30 points. Five players willing to sacrifice in order to play winning basketball.
Adding Kristaps Porzingis and Jrue Holiday this past offseason was a no-brainer move on paper, but in reality, it required a commitment from everyone on the roster. With new mouths to feed, the number of touches the stars were used to wouldn’t be there every night.
“It’s the most important thing,” head coach Joe Mazzulla said of the Celtics’ stars buying in. “I always talk about when you acquire a bunch of people, people like to say like, ‘Oh, just be yourself.’ And it’s like, no, that’s not how it works. You have to be whatever the team needs you to be.”
Thursday night’s win over the Cleveland Cavaliers highlighted one way the Celtics are able to sacrifice while also finding room for individuals to flourish.
On the opening play of the game, Jrue Holiday screened for Jayson Tatum, while Jaylen Brown screened for Holiday. Donovan Mitchell and Dean Wade got lost in their matchups, and Holiday cut to the rim for an open layup.
With roughly 40 seconds to go in the second quarter, Tatum backed down Mitchell in the post. The Cavaliers’ defense sent help, Brown cut from the corner, and he earned an open dunk.
Brown, Holiday, and the rest of the Celtics’ starters are used to having the ball in their hands. But with so many elite players sharing the floor, they’ve had to find new ways to stay effective.
Off-ball movement has been the key.
“It’s super important,” Tatum said of the Celtics’ willingness to play without the ball. “Moving the ball, finding the open man. Obviously, we all have plays designed for us to kind of get in our rhythm and flow but just finding different ways to affect the game.”
With 7:12 left in the second, Porzingis capitalized on one of the set plays Tatum referenced. Holiday controlled the ball at the top of the key while Brown and Derrick White set two screens for Porzingis, who ran from the corner and toward the basket, finishing off an and-one while Darius Garland tried to scramble to get in the play.
The buy-in from Boston’s stars goes beyond cutting, however. The off-ball movement includes working the offensive glass.
Against Cleveland on Thursday, the Celtics pulled in 13 offensive rebounds. Tatum and Al Horford had three apiece, Brown, Holiday, and White each had two, and Porzingis grabbed one.
Boston’s activity on the offensive glass led to 16 second-chance points, some of which came at a crucial point in the game. The Cavaliers stuck around like a thorn in the Celtics’ side for most of the contest, but Boston was able to pull away late thanks to a string of hustle rebounds that gave them extra possessions.
Star status aside, the Celtics’ core guys have been locked in on offense, constantly looking to do the little things.
“Don’t turn down any catch and shoot threes. We all know that,” Tatum explained. “Screen for somebody, slip, get offensive rebounds, get out in transition. So, we’re all kind of on the same page in that regard.”
It’s easy for star-studded teams to fail. There are only so many shots to go around, and no matter how many times a player says they are “willing to sacrifice,” egos inevitably come into play.
But this Celtics team has backed up the cliche commitments with on-court results. They may not have the ball as much as they’re used to, but they never stop moving, and it’s that constant, relentless activity that keeps Boston’s offensive engine chugging along.
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