It’s the defense, stupid – CelticsBlog

The Celtics could run a few more Derrick White-Kristaps Porzingis pick-and-rolls. They shoot too many three-pointers. They don’t take enough three-pointers.

After a two-game losing streak, the knee jerk reaction would be to criticize the offense. Losing is a deficit of points in the end. Shot-making can be a fickle thing however and Joe Mazzulla has been quick to defend his team on most nights when not enough of them go down.

But quietly over the last few months, the Celtics have started tightening the screws on the other side of the ball. Consider even how Boston closed out the road trip winning the final three games in Phoenix, Portland, and Salt Lake City. Against the Suns and Jazz, both hosts whittled the lead down to five or less ahead of the fourth quarter until the Celtics shut them down in the clutch.

After Phoenix cut Boston’s lead to five points with just under four minutes to go, the Celtics held the Suns scoreless for four straight possessions to close out the game. Check out the defensive rotations and seamless switching above in a must-score spot. It’s not just the players either. Turn up the sound and you can hear Sam Cassell calling from the sideline for Brown to pre-rotate over to Kevin Durant after he loses Derrick White on a series of baseline screens.

Against Utah on Tuesday night, Boston rode a 20-0 spanning from the end of the third to midway of the fourth quarter to shut down the Jazz’s activity on the offensive glass; after grabbing seven offensive rebounds for eight points through three quarters, Utah had just two in the fourth with a garbage time putback.

That’s how it’s been trending for a while now. After letting go of the rope in December (114.6 defensive rating) and January (112), the Celtics closed out February allowing just 108.9 points per 100 possessions with a 10-1 record. So far in March, that’s tightened up even further to 108.3.

And for what it’s worth, the offense has been fine:

However, Mazzulla has consistently made defense the focus of this road trip. Even when the members of the Stay Ready group have had season-best offensive outputs out west, Mazzulla has been quick to compliment their defense in their complementary roles.

“They were amazing. They were tremendous,” Mazzulla said after setting the Suns in a nationally televised game Saturday night. “I thought Payton changed the game defensively. Him and Sam are both offensive guys, but it’s been their defense that’s really helped up this year and Luke’s ability to play against the second unit in switching really gave us a great look…that unit has been great for us all year, but tonight, they were big time.”

And that’s just the second unit. This week, we’ve heard individual praise on some of Boston’s top-6. Here’s the Clippers’ Paul George on his toughest defender:

“Toughest player to score on? Probably Jrue [Holiday],” George said on his PodcastP podcast. “Jrue got locks. He’s strong as $#*%. He’s quick. And he loves to play defense. That’s the worst trait you can go up against — they just love to play defense.”

George continued, “he has anticipation. He has instincts. He knows your tendencies. He’s cerebral. He’s a cerebral defender.”

And here’s ESPN’s JJ Redick on his Old Man & The Three pod about Jaylen Brown:

“The other guy that’s had a great defensive season that has flown under the radar is Jaylen Brown. Jaylen Brown has had a really good defensive season,” Redick said. “He’s been good in ISOs, he’s been good defending the post when he’s switched on to bigger defenders, he’s been good on the advanced stuff on contesting shots. Really solid defensive year for Jaylen Brown.”

For the year, the Celtics are still ranked second in defensive efficiency, fifth in defensive rebounding rate, and second in blocks. They’re surprising 29th in steals, but they make up for that with their bend-don’t-break defense that also is second in opponent’s 3FG%, second in opponent’s free throw attempts, and fourth in opponent’s fast break points.

So while their historic offense grabs the headlines and often times, warranted criticism, If the old adage is true that offense wins games, but defense wins championships, then Boston’s D has set the floor of their contending status.