New season, same issues: 10 Takeaways from Celtics/Pacers

#1 Third quarters are STILL a problem

The below Tweet is three years old.

The Boston Celtics had just lost 106-101 to the Miami Heat in the Eastern Conference Semi-Finals. Brad Stevens was still the head coach. We’re three years, two head coaches, and an NBA finals appearance removed from when I posted that Tweet. Yet here we are, still talking about third-quarter struggles and how the Celtics can’t seem to start the second half on the right foot.

Against the Indiana Pacers, in the quarter-finals of the in-season tournament, the Celtics lost the third quarter by 14 points. Boston shot 3-of-10 from deep, was outrebounded 12-14, and outscored on the interior. We’ve seen this story too many times, even if we narrow the scope to this season.

At this point, it feels redundant to say they need to figure things out. They’ve been needing to figure it out for three years.

#2 Poor perimeter shooting

I’m not anti-three-pointers. I like the fact the Celtics have incorporated more interior play into their offensive system this season, and I think the balance, for the most part, is right where it should be. However, there has to be some self-awareness, too.

As a unit, the Celtics shot 29.3% from deep on 12-of-41 shooting. They went 34-of-56 inside the three-point line. 11 of Jayson Tatum’s buckets came from two-point range, and so did 12 of Jaylen Brown’s.

You can’t expect the Celtics to go away from their perimeter game totally. Their offense relies on spacing, and being a threat to fire from deep is a core principle surrounding that threat. However, when it’s apparent it isn’t your night, maybe tone down the perimeter offense and look to feed what is working and is having consistent success.

I’m not saying to take 25 threes. That’s far too low of a number also to keep the floor spaced and the defense honest. 35-38? Sure. If you know it’s not your night, and the Pacers’ intensity is impacting your ability to get clean looks, then switch it up. Part of the problem is becoming too predictable.

#3 Things keep getting ugly in the half-court

Speaking of predictability...Boston’s half-court offense has been a tough watch in recent weeks. Look past the win/loss totals, look past the big scoring nights from one or two guys in the rotation, and focus on the execution. It’s been rough.

There’s a great clip circling the internet at the moment. In it, Kara Lawson is describing why second actions are so important at the highest levels of basketball. Lawson explains how every team knows your playbook, and oftentimes, your initial actions are countered and blown up, at which point, it’s how you react that’s important.

I’ve discussed the Celtics need to incorporate more counters into their offense in recent editions of the takeaways, so I’m not going to harp on them too much here. However, I do want to provide an example of an initial action that is well-defended that then led to a disjointed possession ending in nothing.

The Celtics went to a “Ram action” in the above clip. It’s designed to create a mismatch on the perimeter and potentially in the post, too. It forces multiple switches, and ideally, the second screener receives a pass and attacks his mismatch. Boston had significant success with this action under Ime Udoka.

Here, the Celtics look to get Tatum a mismatch with Tyrese Haliburton — as they did throughout the game. However, as the switch occurs and Aaron Nesmith picks up Dalano Banton, the play breaks down. Nesmith knows Banton wants to feed Tatum and gets active in denying the passing lane.

Banton holds onto the rock a little too long and is forced to go with Payton Pritchard, who misses a contest mid-range jumper.

Now, this play broke down when Nesmith killed the passing lane. But Banton isn’t the only one at fault. Tatum could have re-screened. He could have relocated to make the pass easier. Pritchard could have curled to get a handoff above the perimeter, giving him extra options on his drive. Instead, everybody stood still. The shot clock wound down, and the possession ended exactly how the Pacers wanted it to.

There has to be a commitment from everybody on the court to work for each other. When everybody is moving, good things happen; just look at how it flows in the clip below.

First of all, let's give Luke Kornet some credit because his exit screen made this play. And second, why are possessions like this the exception and not the rule?

#4 Where are the sets?

Building off of the above point, most of what the Celtics are running is principal-based. There are very few possessions where we’re looking at a designed play, at least in the open court. That’s perfectly normal. Teams often save their set plays for late in the fourth or during out-of-bounds possessions.

Still, when your offense isn’t clicking how you want it to, and the defense is pressing up on you, having some set actions you can flow into makes all the difference. I totally get not wanting to give everything away so early in the season and keeping some curveballs in your back pocket. However, the point of having a coach is to help stem the bleeding at times, especially when it’s clear the guys on the floor are struggling to figure it out.

#5 Penetration is too easy

The Celtics struggled to contain dribble penetration and second-drive actions on Tuesday. Tyrese Haliburton’s presence was clearly a big factor, but he wasn’t the only player getting to the rim whenever he wanted.

According to Cleaning the Glass, the Pacers ended the game with a half-court offense that would secure 113.8 points per 100 possessions. Boston’s was ranked at 97.9 per 100. A lot of the Pacers' success was based on how easily they carved through the point-of-attack and found cutters, shooters, or second drivers to attack a rotating defense.

There were also problems when defending penetration off the high pick-and-roll.

The Celtics had three players looking to contain Haliburton on the penetration, likely because they had been daring Myles Turner to shoot from deep for most of the game. But also, and more importantly, because the lack of rim protection without Kristaps Porzingis on the floor means they need to pressure primary ball-handlers higher up the court. Either way, defensive slips like this, where you hyperfocus on one player, can lead to bad habits and a string of errors.

#6 Gettin’ Nerdy With It: Delay actions

The Celtics did find some success with their delay actions. Here are two that stood out to me, as they looked to spam Horford as a passing big until the Pacers clued up and shut it down.

The below clip is “Delay Ricky”

And this one is “Delay Wedge”

Both times, the Celtics get Al Horford the ball in the delay before running a screening action to create rotations within the defense. In the wedge action, Tatum’s cut draws two defenders, allowing Derrick White to drain it from deep.

#7 Luke Kornet steps up

For all the talk of needing an upgrade at the center position, Luke Kornet came in clutch for the Celtics. He was arguably one of the most impactful players outside of Tatum and Jaylen Brown and had a solid performance on both sides of the ball.

Kornet ended the game with 6 points, 4 blocks, 4 rebounds, 2 assists, and 1 steal, shooting 3-of-5 from the field. For someone who is supposedly a wink leak, Kornet has been enjoying a strong spell of games while Porzingis has been out with injury.

#8 Brown & Tatum show up on offense

It’s very rare that the Celtics get a solid offensive game from both Tatum and Brown and wind up losing. Tatum was once again dominant on the glass and a valuable creator in a point-forward role. The turnovers that have blighted him in recent games were not an issue, and his interior and post scoring gave the Celtics a significant boost.

Brown was also aggressive. He drove the lanes, got to his spots, hammered home some dunks, and fought around the boards. The Celtics need this type of scoring dominance from their two star players moving forward. If Brown and Tatum can sustain their offensive production once Porzingis is back in the lineup, it’s going to be scary, and hopefully, the halfcourt offense finds its rhythm.

#9 Where was the press? Still waiting for zone...

Against a Pacers team that likes to push the pace and play with early offense principles, you could have been forgiven for expecting to see the Celtics go to their 2-2-1 press throughout the game. That defensive curveball is designed to slow down faster-paced teams and force them into a half-court set with 10 seconds or more missing from the shot clock.

Yet, we rarely saw anything outside of drop coverage, and we certainly didn’t see many, if any, defensive curveballs.

Also, coming into the season, there was excitement that we could see the Celtics incorporate some zone defense. Throwing out some zone looks and killing a couple of possessions while teams adjusted is a good way to quell any offensive rhythm or potential advantage. So far, though, no dice.

If Boston was ever going to start toying with some zone defense, Tuesday could have been the ideal time. Maybe it would have worked, maybe it wouldn’t have, but at least we could have said the coaching staff was trying out different things to give them an advantage and limit the Pacers' momentum.

#10 Pritchard isn’t doing himself any favors

I’ve been really patient with Payton Prtichard to begin this season. I think that when he’s confident and in rhythm, he can be a serious impact-maker off the bench. However, there’s been more bad than good so far, and there has to be a limit on how many bad games there can be before a potential change is considered.

An 0-for-5 night and career-low shooting despite a career-high in minutes isn’t encouraging. It’s still too early to close the door on Pritchard, but he needs to find some rhythm fast.

Looking ahead

The Celtics will have a few days off now. They will face the loser of the Milwaukee Bucks and New York Knicks game, which will take place on Tuesday night (Dec. 5.) Hopefully, we can start to see an uptick in performance level and a more entertaining and aesthetically pleasing brand of basketball. Because over the past few weeks, it’s been a tough watch.

With that in mind, the Celtics are 15-5. There is still plenty to be happy and excited about. Now, all we can do is wait for Friday.