Celtics finding defensive groove
BOSTON — The Boston Celtics have been many things this season.
Explosive from the 3-point line. Unguardable in transition. A nightmare for defenders, who have witnessed another leap in the twin-pronged development of Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown, two young players who, around this time last year, were coping with criticism about whether they could coexist. Now, they have the Celtics positioned as a presumptive favorite to return to the NBA Finals — and perhaps win it all.
Yet for all their pyrotechnics on offense, the Celtics have had their issues on defense. Through the early weeks of the season, Boston has been more pasta strainer than steel curtain when it comes to thwarting open looks. Considering everything else that the team can do — namely, score oodles of points — the Celtics have offered up some decidedly mediocre defense.
But that may be changing, which is awful news for the rest of the league.
Facing the Celtics last week, the Dallas Mavericks were trying to sustain a late-game surge when their All-star guard, Luka Doncic, found a seam to the basket — only to have his finger roll rejected at the rim by Tatum. The Celtics came away with the ball and pushed it ahead to Brown, who sank a 3-pointer to seal the Boston win.
As that sequence was playing out, Tatum and Doncic were left in quiet conversation at the other
end.
“I told him that I didn’t want him to dunk on me,” Tatum said later. “He looked at me and was like, ‘You thought I was going to dunk it?’ I was like: ‘You never know.’”
The Celtics, who have won 13 of their last 14 games to improve their record to a league-best 17-4, still have a middleof-the-pack, bend-butdon’t-break defense under Joe Mazzulla, their interim coach. Their defensive rating, which is a measure of points allowed per possession, ranked 14th in the league entering Tuesday. But over their past eight games, the Celtics have produced a top-10 defense — a sign of growth as they lean into Mazzulla’s
up-tempo style while compensating for the injury absence of Robert Williams III, their starting center.
“Our offense is so good that it hides some of our defensive flaws,” Marcus Smart, the team’s starting point guard, said in an interview. “But we’re continuously out here working, and it’s only going to get better with time.”
Doncic’s big night leads Mavs to win
Luka Doncic scored 41 points in his Nba-leading fifth triple-double, and the Dallas Mavericks beat the Golden State Warriors 116-113 on Tuesday night in the first meeting of last season’s Western Conference
finalists.
The fourth quarter had plenty of playoff intensity as the Mavericks ended a four-game losing streak, their longest in two seasons under coach Jason Kidd.
The Warriors, who beat the Mavericks in five games last spring on their way to the title, lost for just the second time in seven games after a slow start to their season.
Stephen Curry scored 32 points for Golden State
Doncic also had 12 rebounds and 12 assists in his 51st career tripledouble.
Simmons out against Wizards
Brooklyn Nets forward Ben Simmons sat out Wednesday night’s home game against the Washington Wizards with a sore knee.
Nets coach Jacque Vaughn said the 26-yearold Simmons, who had already missed six games this season due to an ongoing knee issue, would be day to day.
In 17 games this season, Simmons is averaging 8.4 points and 6.6 rebounds per game.