Offensive cohesion is looking up

Joe Mazzulla initially used the word “reinvent,” but changed his mind. He felt that was too strong. The Celtics coach did, however, note the ascension by his team’s offense in recent weeks, especially during the fourgame road trip.

The Celtics averaged 135.3 points on 49.4 percent shooting and 39.5 percent from the 3-point line on the West Coast. They were a plus-16.8 overall, and even better in the final three games against the Sacramento Kings, Los Angeles Clippers, and Lakers.

The presence of Kristaps Porzingis ,who played against the Kings and Lakers and poured in a game-high 35 points in Thursday’s overtime win against Detroit, could be a factor. But Mazzulla said the team has improved its offensive cohesion when facing switching defenses.

“I thought we played well on the road trip,” Mazzulla said. “We went in with a couple of objectives on both ends of the floor and outside of that end of the third [quarter], start of the fourth in Golden State, I thought we played really good basketball on both ends. We reinvented our offense a little bit with our pace and those things we have to continue.

“Defensively against fast teams, I think we were the best transition defense in the league over those four games. It’s was well balanced and we have to keep it up.”

When asked about the reinvention, Mazzulla said the team had to adjust to changing defenses.

“You look at the road trip and the number of teams we’re playing against that does [defensive] switching, are two things we’re going to see,” Mazzulla said. “And we’ve known over the last few years, switching has slowed us down. How we can attack switching differently so we can change the pace of the game versus good defenses that switch and try to slow us down. It was just something I thought it was important for us to stress during this stretch of games and get better at it.”

Brissett being himself

Reserve swingman Oshae Brissett has brought his unique personality to the Celtics, and he’s enjoying his first season in Boston. Brissett was limited to six first-half minutes Thursday, but is beginning to carve out more time after an offensive surge that began by canning a pair of open threes in the Dec. 23 win over the Clippers. Brissett barked at the Clippers bench after the second 3-pointer and was warned by official Justin Van Duyne about his conduct.

“It was just the actions,” Brissett said of his chastising by Van Duyne. “He told me it was cool. He told me anything for the crowd to see, taunting wise. So it wasn’t exactly anything I said. But I just flaunted it.”

It’s common in the NBA for players to talk smack after making a corner three in front of the opposing bench. Players sitting on the bench generally yell or utter trash talk to distract the shooter. The shooter then turns around and gives back the smack.

“Honestly, we do [the trash talk] too on our side,” Brissett said. “It’s all competitiveness and they’re going to talk and say whatever. It’s not too crazy though.”

Brissett has become one of the more affable personalities in the locker room. During the media session after the Celtics win at Sacramento, he took his phone, stood in the back of the scrum, and asked astute questions to his teammates.

On the floor, Brissett’s minutes have been inconsistent, but he did post a season-high 12 points in that Clippers’ win, and he’s made five of his past six 3-point attempts after a slow start from the field.

“I’ve been putting in a lot of work on offdays and just getting into the gym and getting a whole bunch of shots up,” Brissett said. “I definitely feel more confidence in myself and the coaches have had confidence in me, so it’s a matter of continuing to be myself.”

Brown out

After taking a LeBron James knee to the back and spending time in the locker room during the Celtics’ win over the Lakers, Jaylen Brown missed Thursday’s game with a lower back strain. Brown collided with James in the second period and left the game briefly before returning for the second half and playing the remainder of the game.

Jayson Tatum was listed as questionable with a sprained left ankle he initially turned last week against Golden State, but he was cleared to play after shootaround. Former Piston Svi Mykhailiuk (heel contusion) and

Lamar Stevens (non-COVID illness) were also cleared to play against Detroit.