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Wednesday, October 23, 2024

Celtics Sans Porzingis Dominate New Look Knicks on NBA Opening Night

NBA Opening Night 2024 began with the 2024 NBA champion Boston Celtics distributing their championship rings, raising their record 18th NBA championship banner, and dominating the New York Knicks. Many Celtics champions and legends showed up in person to participate in the festivities, including Ray Allen, Kevin Garnett, and Paul Pierce from Boston's 2008 championship team--but for me the poignant highlight was seeing 96 year old Bob Cousy rolled onto the court in a wheelchair: known as the "Houdini of the Hardwood" because of his magical ballhandling and passing, Cousy starred for six Celtics championship teams, including the franchise's first in 1957 when he averaged 20.7 ppg, 9.1 apg, and 6.7 rpg in the NBA Finals. Cousy deserves a lot better in his golden years than hearing nonsense about the quality of opposition that he faced, but two years ago he showed that his mind and tongue are still quite sharp when he offered his rebuttal to his ignorant critics. It must have meant so much to Cousy to be able to attend the ring ceremony and to be invited by the Celtics to do so.

In my 2024-25 Eastern Conference Preview, I picked Boston and New York as the top two teams in the East. Even without the services of starting center Kristaps Porzingis, the Celtics picked up right where they left off in the 2024 NBA Finals, overwhelming the Knicks from midway through the first quarter through the final buzzer to post a 132-109 rout. Porzingis, who averaged 20.1 ppg, 7.2 rpg, and 1.9 bpg in 57 games last season with the Celtics, will miss at least the first month of this season because of the lower left leg injury that he suffered during game five of the 2024 NBA Finals; the Celtics will be even more of a matchup nightmare after he returns to action.

Jayson Tatum scored a game-high 37 points on blistering 14-18 field goal shooting while also logging a game-high 10 assists, snaring four rebounds, and committing just one turnover en route to posting a game-high +26 plus/minus number. Tatum shot 8-11 from three point range. Derrick White added 24 points, and Jaylen Brown tallied 23 points. That Celtics trio was in the news last summer when Team USA chose White over Brown to replace the injured Kawhi Leonard while also relegating Tatum to being a seldom-used reserve. Team USA won Olympic gold, but Brown's absence and Tatum's minimal role baffled many observers. Tatum and Brown would no doubt have been highly motivated to chase a repeat NBA championship anyway, but the Team USA controversies added further fuel to the fire for two players who have often felt--with some justification--underrated and unappreciated. 

Jalen Brunson and Miles McBride each scored a team-high 22 points and new addition Mikal Bridges added 16 points, but the Knicks' main off-season acquisition--Karl-Anthony Towns--contributed just 12 points and seven rebounds. The Knicks shot .551 from the field overall but just 11-30 (.367) from three point range, and their inability to even slow down the Celtics' high-powered offense was the difference: the Celtics tied the NBA's regular season single game record by making 29 three pointers, shooting .604 (29-48) from beyond the arc before missing their last 13 treys as they chased sole ownership of the record. They also matched a franchise record by drilling 17 three pointers in the first half. 

The importance of the fourth quarter and "crunch time" is often emphasized, but the reality is that the NBA is in many ways a first quarter league: the matchups and tendencies that one sees in the first 12 minutes often provide a reliable preview of what will happen the rest of the way. The Knicks twice enjoyed a one point lead in the first two minutes of the first quarter before trailing for the final 46:07. The Celtics had their first double digit lead after Tatum hit a three pointer at the 3:57 mark of the first quarter to put them up 27-17, and they led by at least 10 points the rest of the way. The Celtics led 43-24 by the end of the first quarter after shooting 10-17 (.588) from three point range while the Knicks shot just 1-7 (.143) from beyond the arc. 

Anyone can look at the numbers and see that three point shooting was a big factor in the outcome of this game, but in terms of evaluating these teams overall it is important to understand in detail what happened and why it happened, as opposed to just looking at the boxscore.

Tatum and Brown both used to be criticized for going one on one too often as opposed to working within the framework of the offense. They refuted that notion by the unselfish way that they played during Boston's 64-18 regular season in 2023-24 followed by a dominant 16-3 playoff run, and against the Knicks they again found the right balance of isolation play versus ball movement. Tatum and Brown both aggressively attacked favorable matchups, and they both moved the ball to the open man when the situation called for that.

The Celtics used on ball screens and off ball screens to great effect, and their laser sharp cuts led to both open shots in the paint and open shots on the perimeter. Their .505 field goal percentage and .475 three point field goal percentage are not sustainable over the course of an 82 game season, but if they continue to execute their offense with that degree of precision combined with unselfishness--willingly passing up good shots to get great shots--then they will be very difficult to defend. I am not a fan of randomly jacking up long range shots or arbitrarily deciding to attempt at least 50 three pointers per game regardless of time/score/matchups, but I am a fan of ball movement and of spreading out the defense before attacking the defense's holes, which is what the Celtics did to near perfection versus the Knicks.

All of that being said, the Knicks pride themselves on their tough, physical defense and they have to be very disappointed with both their effort and execution at that end of the court. Defense is about game plan discipline and about making multiple efforts on the same play, but the Knicks repeatedly conceded wide open shots all over the court. Their on ball pressure was soft at best, their screen/roll defense was terrible, and the Celtics had so many open shots that it looked like they were on a perpetual power play. It is too easy--and too soon--to say that the Knicks' offseason moves fatally weakened their defense, but the onus is on the Knicks to get their act together on that end of the court. Better effort and execution may not have been enough to beat the hot-shooting Celtics on this night, but the presumed second best team in the East should not trail by as many as 35 points or lose by 23 points. 

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posted by David Friedman @ 1:39 AM

2 comments

2 Comments:

At Wednesday, October 23, 2024 4:45:00 PM, Anonymous Anonymous said...

Marcel


The Knicks are not that good

If healthy Philadelphia the second best team In the east.

Kat fit better on Minnesota

Kat isn't hard-nose or tough enough to play for the current Knicks

He a great player but he more of a finesse player, who scared to go to the post


They not going anywhere

Boston the fav to repeat

Even tho I think they won't

Both they best players are two options on title teams

I never seen two options lead a team to multiple titles



 
At Wednesday, October 23, 2024 9:22:00 PM, Blogger David Friedman said...

Marcel:

I hesitate to make sweeping judgments after one game. The injury-riddled Knicks came within one win of the ECF last season, and then added Towns and Bridges while only losing Hartenstein and DiVincenzo from the rotation of players who had so much success last season (Randle did not play during the playoff run). It would be difficult to believe that the Knicks won't be better this season.

Boston is obviously the favorite.

Tatum is a top five player in the league now, and Brown is no worse than top 15. I never understood the notion that the Celtics could not win a title with that duo, and I would think that last season's title run put that nonsense aside for good.

 

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