4 things that helped the Celtics flip the script on their ‘brutal’ road trip
The Celtics met the challenge on the road and regained some momentum.
The Celtics were treading water when they embarked on this potentially treacherous West Coast swing.
They weren’t quite sinking when they had lost four of their seven games leading up to the trip, but they had hit the point in the season where they were no longer swimming along with ease.
The Celtics eventually hit their stride and bounced back. Beating the Timberwolves, Rockets, and Nikola Jokic-less Nuggets and going 3-1 against four of the top-eight teams in the West was a solid way to break out of a slump.
“It was supposed to be 4-0, but the second-best was 3-1,” Celtics coach Joe Mazzulla said. “Everybody said this road trip was brutal, I think, was what a couple of people used to start. So that was great. I just liked the way our guys handled it. I liked the way we approached it. It was four tough environments and I thought our defense kind of carried us and I thought our offense was what helped us.”
So, how did the Celtics break the slump and put together a successful road trip? Here are four things that helped.
Finally playing close to full strength
Sunday’s loss to the Thunder was one of a handful of times that the Celtics have had their entire starting-five intact all season.
Kristaps Porzingis, who has dealt with multiple lower body injuries this season, played in three of the four games on the trip. Jayson Tatum and Jrue Holiday were available for all four games. Derrick White was available, except for being sidelined with an illness on Sunday. Jaylen Brown was the only starter to miss multiple games on the trip.
The Celtics are used to mixing and matching lineups with starters out. Porzingis has missed more than half the games, and injuries in general tend to crop up during an 82-game season.
This trip wasn’t perfect health-wise, but it was better than the Celtics had been as they struggled over the last few weeks. They were also fortunate to run into the Nuggets without Nikola Jokic who was out sick, and the Rockets without Jabari Smith who broke his hand at shootaround.
Defensive intensity makes up for subpar shooting
The Celtics are 19-2 this season when they hold opponents under 110 points per game. They gave up 103 points per game during this road trip.
Multiple players and coach Joe Mazzulla said the defensive intensity had been lacking leading up to the trip. They mustered a better effort this time.
It was needed because the Celtics did not shoot the ball particularly well during this trip. They scored 109 points per game, which was 21st in the league over the four-game stretch, and shot 35 percent from the field which is below average by NBA standards.
The Celtics have leaned into their 3-point shooting harder than ever this season. They are taking 49.8 3-point attempts per game, which is more than half of their total shot attempts.
They cannot control when they have an off-night from beyond the arc, such as the dreadful 9-for-46 showing against the Thunder that led to a season-low 92 points.
But, they can control how they show up on defense on a nightly basis, and they showed up well over these past few games.
Jayson Tatum’s steadiness
Two aspects of Tatum’s game that often don’t get enough attention are his durability and his ability to affect the game even when he’s not shooting well.
Tatum is available night in and night out consistently. He played all four games in the road trip and averaged 27 points and seven rebounds.
The flow of the game, especially against Denver, changed when he wasn’t on the floor. The Nuggets clogged the lane and made runs without Tatum out there to space the floor, drive, and kick.
Kristaps Porzingis’s progress
Porzingis posted his first double-double of the season Tuesday night with 25 points and 11 rebounds while shooting 50 percent from the field.
He said that he’s finally starting to feel like himself again.
“Probably like 80-85 percent, so I still have a little bit to go,” Porzingis said. “The shot needs to calibrate a little bit better. I haven’t been shooting the ball well this season but I know that moment is coming where everything will start clicking and I’ll play really high level basketball.”
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