Celtics on a search for their defensive soul

The one redeeming aspect of Tuesday night’s loss to Miami is that the Celtics had a chance to absolve their sins late last night against the Nets.

But even their lone bubble win this far (over Portland) considered, every bit of video evidence has painted a very clear picture for Brad Stevens about the weak nature of his defense.

“We just haven’t guarded yet at the level we need to,” Stevens said before the Nets game. “So that’s going to be a conscious choice. I thought that we guarded decent in the first quarter, the first six minutes we were really good on the defensive end. For whatever reason we really let go of that for a lot of the rest of the game.”

The Celtics may face a greater challenge than most teams, especially in the area of paint defense.

“So for us it takes such great effort to keep the other team from scoring and to keep them from the restricted area in the paint,” he said. “As we’ve said many times, once we get down there we’re in trouble. So we have to be better as a team, we have to be more defensive-minded, we have to play with a different defensive DNA than we’ve played with thus far. And (the Nets) will really test that because these guys are flying all over the place, they’re spread out and playing free.”

Based on how playoff seedings are shaping up – the Celtics are increasingly likely to face Philadelphia in the first round – they don’t have long to get better. Otherwise, another early playoff exit could be in their future.

“The bottom line is we have to be a lot better if we want to stay long,” said Stevens. “Whoever we play in the first round is really going to be a good team, so if we’re haphazard, we’re not really good at doing the things that we can control, then we’ll be a quick exit.”

No holding back Smart

Nowhere was the frustration more palpable than in Marcus Smart fouling out with 3:46 left in the third quarter of the Miami game.

But the fact that Stevens left his defensive leader on the floor with five fouls is proof that the coach doesn’t want Smart to hold back when in danger of a sixth.

“One of the things that makes Marcus who he is is he’s not going to stop playing just because he has fouls,” said Stevens. “He’s not going to back off just because he has fouls. And I like that. I think that there’s opportunities there. He wasn’t going to commit a silly one by any means, but (Goran) Dragic jumped into him and got that sixth one, and that was just a good play by Dragic.

“But I trust Smart. He’s been through it a lot,” he said. “As you know, I leave guys in with fouls most often because usually it winds up that rather than breaking a rhythm, they get a chance to stay in the game, keep a rhythm and don’t foul out. But it backfired yesterday. He’ll be fine today.”

Brown impresses at both ends

One of the few bright spots Tuesday was the continued two-way impact of Jaylen Brown. And the reason for Brown’s electric offensive moments, says Stevens, is rooted in his plays down the other end.

“The biggest thing is he played with great tenacity on the other end defensively, and it really spearheaded some of those attacks,” said Stevens. “He was hard to drive, kept guys in front, he was rebounding, and did a lot of those things in that little stretch where he capitalized down the other end with that same mindset. He’s an excellent, versatile, all-around offensive player. Not a huge surprise when he goes on runs like that. He’ll have runs like that a lot of times, and obviously we want to position ourselves to take advantage of that.”

from Boston Herald https://ift.tt/3ic5DYl