Joe Mazzulla, Boston Celtics
Joe Mazzulla, Boston Celtics
A torrid shooting night ensured the Boston Celtics fell to the New York Knicks on Sunday, Feb. 8, 111-89.
Boston shot an appalling 17.1% from the perimeter, despite taking 41 shots. They were 37% from the field on the night, shooting 34-of-92.
When speaking to the media after the game, Joe Mazzulla addressed those shooting woes, noting how they also impacted the Celtics ability to play lockdown defense.
“When you play against a great team like them, and you continue to have empty possessions on the offensive end, but a good process of execution puts a ton of pressure on the other stuff,” Mazzulla said. “…You can only hold down the fort for so long. So I thought we showed great ability to try to get there, get it back to five.”
Mazzulla continued.
“I thought we got some great looks, but they put a ton of pressure on our defense throughout, and you have to be able to answer the call there. We can shoot a little bit better. We can get some more offensive rebounds. We can execute a little bit better. But I thought our defense worked to hold the fort down as long as we could.”
The Knicks took advantage of the Celtics cold shooting, getting into their early offensive sets whenever possible, keeping the defense in rotation and rarely allowing them to get set. In doing so, New York punished Boston on a significant number of their misses, wearing them out in the process.
Jaylen Brown Addresses Celtics’ Poor Offense
During his postgame news conference, Jaylen Brown also addressed the team’s offensive struggles.
“I think we got a bunch of, created a bunch of open looks,” Brown said. “We just got to step in with confidence and knock them down. I think on offense, we did a good job creating advantages. We just got to make some shots we couldn’t make today. It happens, they made shots and I think that was the difference.”
Brown was one of Boston’s more reliable offensive weapons throughout the game. He shot 11-of-25 from the field, dropping 26 points. However, he also went 0-of-4 from the perimeter, an area where everyone on the roster struggled to make an impact.
The Celtics Are Adjusting To A New-Look Rotation
With Sam Hauser ruled out due to injury and Anfernee Simons no longer with the team, the Celtics started the game with Neemias Queta and Luka Garza on the floor together. The results were far from promising.
Mazzulla is likely testing out some new-look lineups as he figures out what works, what doesn’t, and what could be effective for stretches. We could also see Nikola Vucevic step into the starting five at some point this season.
During his postgame news conference, Derrick White addressed how the recent roster changes have impacted Boston’s rhythm.
“Obviously, got some new guys, new spots,” White said. “And so, I want to say we’re not as crisp as we were maybe a few weeks ago, and we’ve had offseason and the beginning of the year to kind of figure those parts out. But it’s exciting that we can continue to learn and grow and just understand it’s going to take day by day and get guys comfortable, get guys in the right spots, and we got a lot of guys that know how to play. So, I think it will be quick. We’ll be able to pick it up quickly.”
It will likely take a few more games until we see the Celtics start to figure things out. Hopefully, their shooting slump doesn’t carry over. Because if they can knock down their perimeter jumpers, they’re capable of beating anyone. It’s all about consistency.