NEW YORK — It hasn’t been that bad if you take away the 13-point fourth quarter collapse on Wednesday and the worst quarter loss in Celtics history that followed on Friday. The Knicks rolled past Boston again, 105-95, on Friday, but the Celtics’ defense mostly held up, forced 15 turnovers and won 3-of-4 quarters. For the season, they’ve out-scored their opponent in 5-of-8. Yet they stood in New York compartmentalizing a winless start.
“12 minutes closer,” Joe Mazzulla said after. “We did it for 12 minutes last game, we probably did it for 20-24 today, so we’re 12 minutes closer and that’s what we have to figure out. I told the guys, there are teams that can ease into a season, but we have to have a sense of urgency to develop the identity that we need, and I thought they showed that in the second half.”
Mazzulla weighed holding the Celtics to the high standard the NBA world judged them on in recent seasons with the reality of a less talented and experienced roster. He previously wanted that maintained, regardless, expecting that Boston will have a chance to win every night. They did in each of their first two, missing a pair of game-winning shots against the Sixers and out-scoring New York, 51-41, after trailing by 20 points at halftime.
The team’s locker room sat mostly silent after a session with Mazzulla that stretched far longer than usual following the game. Players who spoke weighed what he discussed, the need to correct key details like several miscommunications the coach referenced that shouldn’t happen whether you’re a rookie or veteran. Hugo González beat himself up after the loss, saying he couldn’t celebrate his NBA debut because they lost. Asked about his excellent defensive efforts in the game — he added that they couldn’t have been that great because Jalen Brunson scored 30 points. Jaylen Brown and Sam Hauser acknowledged a different feel to this start than in the championship contending years where they won nearly every night.
“You never want to lose,” Hauser said. “But we got 80 more, and I’m pretty confident that we’re gonna start winning some big ones here. We had two really good opponents to start off with, but the standard hasn’t changed. We want to win and we want to compete and be the best. We just gotta live up to that.”
“I think it’s pretty urgent. In the past two years, we were able to figure out how we wanted to play based on the amount of established guys we had. Even if we didn’t play our best one night, we were gonna win a majority of our games. Our team looks different this year, it’s not always gonna be like that, we’re gonna have to be gritty, pick up full court, trap, try to get steals, turnovers and play fast on offense. It’s just trying to figure out the new way of life around here.”
The Celtics did that again on Friday. While their scrambling and rotations defensively allowed the Knicks 21 offensive rebounds and 17 three-point makes, they also held New York to 38.4% shooting from the field. Through two games, Boston ranks third in opponent shooting (42.1%), has forced the 11th-most turnovers per night (17.0) and probably suffered some bad shooting luck in both directions, allowing 38.8% 3PT while hitting only 29.9%.
Meanwhile, the lineup shuffling continued with Mazzulla swapping out his five starters for a fresh five off the bench in the first quarter. Baylor Scheierman and Jordan Walsh made their season debuts alongside Gonzalez, then disappeared later. Anfernee Simons continues to ease into the offense. Luka Garza (concussion) missed the loss after exiting the opener in the first half following a collision. He has no timetable to return. But it’s not all about the young guys and new faces. Payton Pritchard’s slump, between the preseason and regular season, extended to 7-for-35 from three (20%).
“Every game is a fight,” Brown said. “We had a lot of chances tonight. Even though New York felt like they were in control, we were still in striking distance. We make a couple shots, get a couple rebounds and some other plays go our way, you’re right in the game, so we just gotta keep our head up and get better every single game. I got some stuff that I see that I can work on, and see how to get other guys open and find them easier looks. So I’m learning, too. I’m learning in this new role and trying to find ways to make everybody around me better.”
Brown cited the need for more structure and organization reflected in the team’s 15 turnovers, seven coming from him. While taking a step back to second in shot attempts behind Derrick White and playing a pass-first style, he produced only seven assists to his nine giveaways. Some of that stemmed from bad fortune, finishing with 15 potential assists in the opener. Some came from stagnancy, Boston only generating two fast break points in New York and ranking 26th in pace despite a fast-paced camp. He represents the dichotomy of these Celtics so far. Great intentions. Poor results. If all goes right, Boston could thrive. Or a hamstring tweak could throw things off.
There’s hope that Brown and a few steady veterans, a strong system and collective effort can overcome lost talent and roster holes remaining from the offseason. There’s also no guarantee the rebounding improves, that offensive creation emerges outside of their top-four players and that their margin for error won’t prove so slim that small slip-ups can overturn an entire game. Outside of the two quarters that cost them their first two games, the Celtics allowed 0.95 points per possession. A tiny number.
“I still think you can hold guys to a higher standard,” Mazzulla said. “There’s a result here. At the end of the day, there’s an expectation to win, but it’s to win, but it’s to win by the process of doing what we need to do. The standard comes from holding them accountable to the process.”
“To me, you can’t budge on that. There are gonna make mistakes, and that’s ok, but they gotta be mistakes of aggression and mistakes of opportunity, not mistakes of not playing hard. I thought in the second quarter, it was a little bit of mistakes of aggression, but I thought we got out-played … we’re 0-2, so it starts there … we’ve shown signs of learning … again, we showed 12 minutes better, but I felt a sense of urgency of getting to that identity faster.”