Celtics Seeing More Physicality from Nets and Other Opponents This Season

NEW YORK — Joe Mazzulla challenged his team before Wednesday’s game, asking for consistency, for them to get back to habits. It’s natural, he said, to need to reset such tendencies into a new year, and after predicting that a new environment could arise into 2024-25 during training camp, he’s already noticing one early on.

“Last night was different, because they were missing a guy (Trae Young), who they play a particular style with when they have him,” Mazzulla said. “So I think that was a unique situation, but no, I think teams are playing hard … regardless of their record … I see the game becoming more physical than it has been in the last couple of years or so. Much more physicality. So I think that’s been the biggest difference. I think it’s a balance. We’ve still been defending without fouling, but there are still ways we can play more physical. I think, in a good way, the game has become more physical. So we just have to adjust to that, and I like where it’s at.”

The Nets tried to inflict similar aggressive play to what propelled them to a lead for most of their close loss at Boston. They found success as the Celtics’ energy waned in the opening minutes for the second straight night. Derrick White committed two live ball turnovers in three minutes, Neemias Queta fouled and the Celtics fell behind 14-5 after Nic Claxton sealed White for a three-point play inside. A barrage of threes flipped the game for Boston in what became a 139-114 blowout. They also handled Brooklyn’s attempts at overpowering them, gaining free throw advantages by attacking the rim, holding the Nets off the boards and controlling the ball.

The Celtics started the game 1-of-5 and committed three turnovers in four minutes on offense. That’s when Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown attacked the rim while Payton Pritchard checked in with White in foul trouble, probing the paint and seeking Sam Hauser on his way to logging 21 straight minutes. Pritchard’s first three allowed Boston to stay within 10 points, but Keon Johnson frustrated Tatum with a handsy block in tight coverage.

Jalen Wilson barreled inside, missed, then put the ball back in sending Luke Kornet backward. Noah Clowney hit White with a third foul. Early in the second, after Hauser and Dennis Schröder traded go-ahead baskets, Brown missed a shot inside that Queta and Claxton wrestled for, tumbling to the grown. Queta picked up a foul. Brown drew a technical.

“You gotta meet the level of physicality,” Brown said. “You gotta be able to adjust, see how the game is being called and make your decisions accordingly. That’s how the style of play is. We’re more than capable of playing that way. We just gotta have the right mindset, owning your space, getting to your spots, being sharp, taking care of the basketball, no turnovers and just not being careless … they were pressuring us and we turned the ball over (early) … back-to-back, obviously heavy legs, it took a little bit to get settled into the game … we gave up a lot of layups early and it was just about guarding your yard, being physical, being tough and embracing that. Teams are gonna just try to go at you and you gotta be ready.”

Overall, fouls and free throws were up slightly with scoring down from 114.2 points per game to 113.0 in the NBA prior to Wednesday. Offensive rebounding percentages league-wide have increased slightly in each of the past five years to 24.8 OREB%, the highest mark in one decade early on. Shooting efficiency is down.

It’s too early to draw conclusions from early season shifts, but one area in line with a year ago for Boston is fouling. Their opponents have drawn the fewest fouls in the league each night, like in 2023-24, while no team allows fewer free throws than the Celtics. They have prioritized limiting their fouling, while opponents have fouled them more than 20 times per game, up from 17. With more physicality thrown against them, Boston is finding a balance in responding.

On Wednesday, they committed 17 fouls, some offensive, staying below their average in free throws allowed too. The Nets still felt them. Boston grabbed 12 offensive rebounds to Brooklyn’s three. A string of acrobatic Tatum finishes inside pulled the Celtics within 34-32 after one quarter. In the second, Brown, Tatum Pritchard and Jrue Holiday withstood heavy ball pressure and high pick-up points, winning the frame, 33-26, as Brown commended Pritchard’s facilitating.

“It’s a long season, we gotta keep encouraging him, finding him and at times even playing through him,” Brown said. “Let Payton run the show. I don’t mind. Especially when guys have it a rolling.”

Mazzulla stressed, after a barrage of threes powered the Celtics through a 69-47 second half run that placed them up 30, that Boston wasn’t broken on Tuesday and wasn’t fixed on Wednesday. Lapses remained, whether timely offensive rebounds or another night allowing 70% shooting at the rim. They looked closer to themselves in the third, White rising to rim level to reject Ziaire Williams, Holiday grabbing an offensive rebound that set up his three and Pritchard forcing a turnover tipping the ball off Cam Thomas along the sideline leading by 16 points.

Sam Cassell pointed out two areas Pritchard needs to impact when he enters the game: paint touches and ball pressure. The Nets threw a ton at Boston that the Celtics withstood, committing only one turnover after halftime. Through Brown’s rim runs, Tatum’s near triple-double and Pritchard’s combination of ball control on offense and disruptiveness on defense, the Celtics threaded finesses and physicality against another team trying to threaten them with toughness.

Later, as Clowney reached toward Queta, Boston’s big man extended his arm to discard Clowney to the floor. Brooklyn challenged and failed, the officials declaring that Clowney pulled Queta’s arm.

“That’s how teams try to combat our speed and our skill,” Tatum said. “To be physical, up the pressure. So for one, we have to be strong with the ball and I think just moving with more pace. If we allow (physicality) to make us stagnant, then we become a shell of ourself.”