BOSTON — How does a team missing its best player, that rarely cuts or posts-up, struggles to play with consistent pace, never reaches the free throw line and doesn’t find the roller often win games?
The Celtics became a case study through their first 15, spending a few days above .500 thanks to sturdy isolation play, difficult shot-making and keeping turnovers to a minimum. Entering Friday, they also grabbed 33.8% of their misses, the seventh-best offensive rebounding rate in the league. They played with maximum effort, until Friday, when lapses led Jaylen Brown to challenge the team after a shocking 113-105 loss to Brooklyn.
“What’s my initial takeaway? Come ready to play or don’t come at all,” Brown said. “That’s my whole thing. We gotta come ready to play. We just went through the motions today. I don’t understand it.”‘
Brown’s frustrations mounted, in part, because he sat out most of the third quarter and the start of the fourth in foul trouble. The Celtics’ offense capsized, shooting 2-for-9 with two turnovers as the Nets took off on a 19-4 run that built an 18-point advantage before the start of the fourth. For Brown, fouls stemmed from battling downhill, using his arm to create separation and bang-bang collisions emblematic of the style of basketball the Celtics have played all year.
Even in arguably their worst defeat on Friday, they shot 55.4% on twos and doubled-up the Nets’ offensive rebounds. Be careful what you wish for: Boston shot its second-fewest three point attempts in a game this year. Brown described the exhausting offensive approach last week as the Celtics emerged in a tie with Sacramento for the most mid-range shot attempts per game in the NBA. They also achieved the eighth-best efficiency (43.4%).
“Scoring is a lot more effort than it was previously,” Brown said at practice. “Obviously, we had a lot of options, but you just gotta exert a lot more energy, play-to-play, offensively, trying to find ways to get easier baskets, baskets closer to the rim where I don’t have to dribble the ball as much, but as of right now, game 13-14, every basket is energy and I’m up for it, but it’s more energy.”
“Low key,” Brown continued, asked if that forces some possessions to slow down. “We’re working. I’m coming off an injury, so I’m looking to get stronger as the year goes.”
The cracks started showing on Tuesday when the Nets forced 12 first half turnovers and 19 by the end of the night, the first team able to consistently lure a careful Celtics offense into giveaways. Boston escaped behind late shooting and only committing three fourth quarter turnovers, but Brooklyn doubled-down with their high ball pressure and sending help at the three-point line.
Teams around the league continue to raise their pick-up points and full court pressure to counteract shooting and speed offensively. That’s exacerbated offensive facilitating issues for the Celtics with everyone shifting into new offensive roles.
The Celtics’ ball control success early this season stemmed in part from taking available three-pointers early in the shot clock. The Nets forced them into the final seconds of Boston’s 24 on many possessions.
“The first game, they did the same thing,” Anfernee Simons said. “I just think they won those 50-50 balls. They were a little more scrappy than we were, and it showed in the first half and they went on that run at the end of the quarter just off effort plays. That was pretty much the name of the game.”
Derrick White shot 2-for-13 as his shooting struggles continued, showing in missed floaters and a layup that left him sinking his head. Sportsradar stats showed that only Jrue Holiday saw a greater increase of his scoring coming from dribble creation to begin the year. Payton Pritchard started 3-for-4 on threes and missed his final five attempts.
Botched description of the stat but wanted Mazzulla’s thoughts on White’s increased dribble creation responsibility in this offense re: stat below
He doesn’t seem concerned about the way White’s playing despite some alarming shooting numbers. Will agree the P&R creation’s good.. https://t.co/ieRUK3ffe4 pic.twitter.com/MfPfWbpq0V
— Bobby Manning (@RealBobManning) November 22, 2025
The Nets pushed Pritchard and Sam Hauser further from the basket, and forced all three to dribble into the paint. Even Neemias Queta found himself driving downhill into traffic as Brooklyn doubled around screens. He battled, scoring 16 points with 12 rebounds and four assists in the loss.
“We have to play at such a different level,” Mazzulla said. “Physically, mentally, we have to play at a different level to be at our best. If we don’t play at that level physically or mentally at our best, we could lose any night, to anybody.”
The Celtics continue to play a challenging play style they feel gives them the best chance to win. They’re leaning into isolation and fewer passes to maintain a turnover differential advantage that became a constant until this week. They’re playing defenders and rebounders over shooting to further maintain that possession advantage. Despite obvious buy-in, full health outside of Jayson Tatum and intense effort, it’s amounted to .500 play. Crunch time debacles flipped a few games, but the Celtics got here by nearly perfectly executing their game plan. Their last notable slip-up came at home against Utah, where similar concerns about intensity emerged.
To keep the season on the rails, players will need to continue to believe in the mission and its winning outlook. They’ve bought into constant rotation changes, ball time sacrifice in Brown’s case and shorter rotations played at faster speeds. Their three-point shooting and their opponent’s fortunes provide hope of finding an equilibrium, but the Celtics themselves acknowledge a thin margin for error. They didn’t play horribly on Friday.
It still resulted in a loss to one of the worst teams in the league, and self-reflection more reminiscent of a team trying to find an identity than one as competitive and balanced as this one played statistically to begin the year. With the 20-game mark approaching, they’ve shown who they are, a group of offensive creators handling more pressure through life without Tatum, and a defense taking risks to account for personnel issues on that end.
“Defensively and offensively, we gotta be the harder-playing team,” Brown said. “That can’t be negotiable, and tonight we weren’t. Brooklyn was the harder-playing team, they played with more of an edge and they deserved to win tonight.”