Eddie House identifies a “little red flag” for the Celtics early in the season originally appeared on NBC Sports Boston
When you’re the reigning NBA champion, you hold yourself to a higher standard. So, while the Boston Celtics own the second best record in the Eastern Conference at 9-3, there is still room for improvement.
That much was evident Tuesday night when the Atlanta Hawks handed the Celtics a stunning 117-116 loss at TD Garden in their first game of NBA Cup group play.
How a Hawks team missing three of their starters (including Trae Young) upset Boston as a 16.5-point underdog? First, the Celtics committed a whopping 20 turnovers that led to 19 Atlanta points. But the C’s were also dominated on the glass and in the paint; the Hawks obtained 20 offensive rebounds to Boston’s six and scored 68 points in the paint to Boston’s 32.
The decisive score for Atlanta was — you guessed it — an offensive rebound and a second-chance bucket by Onyeka Okongwu, who lifted over Jrue Holiday and Jaylen Brown for a layup.
Tuesday night wasn’t the first time Boston got beat in the paint this season. In fact, The Celtics allow 52.2 points in the paint per game (24th in the NBA), while scoring only 39.8 points in the paint per game (30th in the NBA) for a differential of negative-12, 4.
And if you ask former Celtic guard Eddie House, that’s cause for at least a little concern.
“Right now we’re giving up 52 points in the paint per game. That’s third in the league,” House said after Tuesday’s game further Celtics Postgame Live. “And then we only (score) 39 points (in the paint).
“I know we shoot a lot of 3s, so I understand that. But we’re last (in points in the paint). So, we have to find some kind of balance. It’s good to get to the rim sometimes to get an easy. bucket, to get half We don’t always have to shoot 3.
“This is not overreacting. I’m not going to push a panic button on this. But these are little red flags, and while they’re little, you want to squeeze them out so they don’t become big red flags that are. could affect you later in the season — or something that someone could look at and say, ‘This is how you can attack this team.'”
The Celtics take (and make) the most 3-pointers in the NBA by a significant margin, so it makes sense why they rank last in paint points per game. But their interior defense and rebounding appear to be areas of weakness through 12 games this season, as highlighted by the stats below:
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Celtics offensive rebounds per game: 9.9 (19th in the NBA)
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Opponent offensive rebounds/game: 10.6 (T-13th)
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Points in the paint/game: 39.8 (30th)
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Counterpoints in the paint/game: 52.2 (24th)
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Second chance points: 13.8 (19th)
So, what is the solution? Obviously, the return of big man Kristaps Porzingis will help, but the Celtics need more from their big man rotation of Al Horford, Neemias Queta and Luke Kornet, who have had their moments but generally lacked consistency.
Jaylen Brown, meanwhile, believes it’s a matter of effort instead of personnel.
“We’re changing, so we have to fight,” Brown told reporters after the game. “We’re a team that likes to be able to switch, but you have to rebound, and you have to be able to fight.”
The Celtics’ interior defense will be tested again Wednesday night against a Brooklyn team that put up 54 points in the paint against Boston. taking the C to overtime last Friday night.
