Celtics use 76ers as crash test dummies in latest potentially unintentional experiment

Joe Mazzulla hates breaks. He said as much before All-Star Weekend. The Boston Celtics coach would rather grind. But while he may hate vacations as much as Dwight Schrute, he made sure to utilize his forced holiday to its fullest extent.

“So I have a list of 10 to 12 things that we need to get better at as a team,” Mazzulla said just before the All-Star break. “And so, I’ll go through the calendar of the games and figure out when those things become thematic.

“When we need to institute them, and how we can approach [them], whether it’s a practice or a shootaround, making those themes important to where we’re trying to get to. So, I’ll definitely plan that.”

Mazzulla was planning experiments.

In so many words, the Celtics coach slyly admitted to looking at the team’s upcoming schedule, seeing which games could work best for certain lessons, and prepared accordingly.

Three games into the post-All-Star schedule, and the Celtics are already in the lab.

Boston’s wins against the Chicago Bulls and New York Knicks were more adjustment-focused than experimental. They identified issues and fixed them as the game went on, troubleshooting the post dominance of Nikola Vucevic and the pick-n-roll nuance of Jalen Brunson. In each game, they patched up the holes, and they earned two victories.

Their win over the Philadelphia 76ers on Tuesday night provided the clearest picture of the Mazzula trials. Boston shot just 22 threes - their lowest total of the season by seven - yet managed to earn an 18-point win over the Sixers.

Photo by Brian Babineau/NBAE via Getty Images

Yes, Philadelphia did everything they could to prevent Boston from raining down haymakers themselves and playing small without Joel Embiid. But while the gameplan may have called for a light three-point night, setting a season-low by seven full attempts signaled a willingness to adapt. Moreover, an eagerness to do so.

“I think it’s good to get teams that are going to play us different ways,” said Jaylen Brown. “Like you said, tonight, they took away the three-point line. Next game, other teams might go zone and try to slow you down. Other teams might switch everything. As a student of the game, you embrace the challenge”

Led by Brown, who finished the night a whopping 10-of-11 in the paint, Boston shot 24-of-30 (80.0%) in the restricted area. They earned 12 more shots at the rim than the 76ers did.

Boston also shot 37 free throws, tying their season-high. But what’s most interesting about their charity-stripe success is that the other 37-free-throw night was the same game as their previous season-low in three-point attempts - the November 24 loss to the Orlando Magic.

The Magic met the Celtics with a great level of physicality in the lane, clogging things up and forcing Boston away from their usual gameplan.

While it may not have been at the top of Mazzulla’s mind, as the Celtics’ have emphasized a game-to-game mentality this season, it’s hard to imagine their issues from the Orlando loss not being one of his 10 or 12 items.

“Yeah, we only shot 22 threes. That’s not like us,” Jayson Tatum said. “But I think we just did a good job of recognizing, obviously, they’re a lot smaller than they normally are. So, taking advantage of being able to get to the rim tonight.”

Photo by Brian Babineau/NBAE via Getty Images

Even if Mazzulla didn’t go into the 76ers game ready to experiment, Nick Nurse and company provided him with an opportunity to.

Boston is most comfortable driving and kicking. They shoot a lot of threes because they have the talent for it, and with the likes of Kristaps Porzingis, Derrick White, Jrue Holiday, and Sam Hauser roaming the arc, opposing teams often struggle to keep up.

But when Nurse decided to block off that avenue, Mazzulla did his best Dexter impression and put on his metaphorical white coat.

The Celtics focused on attacking interior mismatches, got Porzingis 12 free throws, and helped Tatum and Brown dominate the driving game. Once Boston found a rhythm and stopped giving up offensive rebounds, Philadelphia was cooked.

“It’s beautiful,” Mazzulla said of winning the game while losing most of the core metrics. “Yeah, it’s beautiful. Like I said, it just gives us something to study. Gives us something to work on. And [I’m] grateful that we were able to play that game.”

Mazzulla has become synonymous with three-pointers. From his back-and-forths with reporters about the team’s high attempt numbers to the social media backlash the team gets when they have a rough night from distance.

But a three-point-heavy offense has never been the goal. “He’s never told us shoot 44 threes a night,” Tatum said with a smile. “But it’s all about taking the right shot and respecting each other’s space”

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Threes are obviously a crucial part of offense in today’s game, but Mazzulla loves quality looks above all else. It just so happens that the Celtics are elite at generating threes.

“I don’t love threes. I love great shots,” Mazzulla said. “And so if the five was going to be on KP, and they’re going to be in drop or we’re going to have two-on-ones for threes, then we’re going to shoot this. If they’re going to switch and the mismatches are going to be in the post or on the perimeter for dribble drives, then we’re going to shoot that.

“And if we drive into the paint, and they don’t help, we have to finish at the rim. If they drive into the paint and help, and we do kick it out, then we get it.”

Heading into Tuesday night, the Celtics were 0-3 when they made 10 or fewer threes. But after making just five, they broke that spell. They proved capable of winning without the three-ball, likely ticking off one of the 10-12 Mazzulla’s inventory items.

“I think it’s rewarding that we have a balanced enough team, a good enough team that we can win physical games, we can win fast-paced games, we can out-think other teams,” Tatum said. “So, we got to be well-rounded. There are a bunch of different ways to win a basketball game, and we got to be able to do it in every which way.”

Whether intentional or not, Boston has been treating their opponents like the crash dummies car companies use to ensure safety in the event of an accident.

Mazzulla is the guy behind the glass with the clipboard, the safety metrics indicate playoff goals, the Celtics are the car, and on Tuesday night, the Sixers were the crash test dummy.