On the second evening of an uncommon preseason back-to-back, there was no sense for the Celtics to danger their most necessary gamers on Monday evening. The clear-cut high six of Jayson Tatum, Jaylen Brown, Kristaps Porzingis, Jrue Holiday, Derrick White and Al Horford took the evening off following Sunday’s spectacular preseason opener.
Under the brilliant lights of Madison Square Garden, it was the Celtics’ reserves time to shine.
While the Celtics’ top-end expertise clearly makes them a championship favourite this season, there’s some uncertainty with their depth and who could crack the common rotation. Some of these questions began to get answered on Monday as they bought an extended look towards the Knicks starters in a 114-107 loss.
Some Celtics takeaways from the loss:
– An evening after pouring in a game-high 26 factors shortly after signing a giant contract extension, Payton Pritchard impressed once more going up towards New York’s starters. He completed with a team-high 21 factors on 7-for-15 taking pictures (4-for-11 from distance), appeared good working the offense with 5 assists, and was additionally energetic defensively with three steals. He sat the fourth quarter.
Pritchard has lived as much as the hype of his spectacular summer season and camp with two robust performances to open the preseason as he seems an increasing number of prepared to assist lead Boston’s second unit.
“His ability to make plays on the offensive end, make the right play, whether it’s drive it, his recognition of screening,” C’s coach Joe Mazzulla advised reporters in New York. “Defensively, he’s versatile and can do different things. He can switch, he can maintain.”
– Dalano Banton might need been the largest Celtics winner on Monday. The 23-year-old newcomer, who signed a two-year deal this offseason, scored 20 factors on 8-for-19 taking pictures that included a number of spectacular, robust finishes on the basket. The Celtics might use some wing depth behind Tatum and Brown, and Banton’s efficiency Monday helped him construct a case for a rotation spot. At 6-foot-9, Banton is a novel participant who may be versatile on each ends for the Celtics.
“He’s young. His length, he does a good job getting deflections, does a great job rebounding out of his area, does a great job crashing and really understands the game,” Mazzulla stated. “I think he’s a really smart player, so we’re fortunate to be able to work with him and try to develop him.”
– A 12 months after he shined within the preseason to assist cement a roster spot, Sam Hauser is struggling to start out this preseason. The backup ahead is taking pictures 2-for-15 – all from lengthy distance – within the first two video games, together with a 2-for-9 mark on Monday.
– Svi Mykhailiuk is simply on {a partially} assured cope with the Celtics however Monday was an excellent evening for him as he tries to seize one of many closing roster spots. He created a activate the bench with 15 factors on 5-for-9 taking pictures, which included three 3-pointers and one very deep one. He additionally confirmed his athleticism with a pair of dunks, which included an alley-oop. He actually wants to enhance defensively however there’s a lot to construct on.
– Mazzulla has expressed confidence in Luke Kornet as a trusted backup heart possibility following the departure of Robert Williams, however Monday was a little bit of a blended bag. He completed with solely two rebounds in 20 minutes and was overpowered a number of instances on the defensive glass by New York’s Mitchell Robinson. He was additionally whistled for a pair of defensive three seconds calls early within the first quarter.
Kornet does a number of issues effectively. He provides them a rim presence offensively, which he confirmed with an alley-oop, units good screens and he recorded a pair of blocks, however there’s actually some room for enchancment.
– Jordan Walsh made his Celtics preseason debut on Monday, and identified for his defensive skill, the rookie held his personal going towards some Knicks regulars. On one play within the first half, he stripped Julius Randle after which took the ball coast-to-coast for a layup.
– For guys battling for roster spots, it’s particularly necessary in these video games to point out constant effort. To that respect, Lamar Stevens confirmed one thing with a formidable sequence within the first half, when over three possessions, he made a candy behind-the-back dribble right into a fadeaway shot, then made a defensive cease on the rim, after which cleaned up a miss with a putback.
“It comes down to, can you build trust?” Mazzulla stated. “The first way to build trust is by playing hard, by paying attention and knowing what you’re doing. Everybody top to bottom has done that so far. They’ve played hard, they’ve paid attention. The mistakes we made are not because we’re not trying, they’re just mistakes that you learn from. And so I think that’s the first evaluation is can we trust you and put you in a situation to execute a possession with physicality and IQ.”
– Don’t inform Mazzulla that preseason outcomes don’t matter. One sequence on the finish of the third quarter stood out to him as a instructing second. Pritchard made a deep 3-pointer with 5.6 seconds left, however left an excessive amount of time on the clock. The Knicks caught the Celtics sleeping defensively, and Isaiah Hartenstein snuck behind the protection for a straightforward dunk as time expired. Mazzulla was incensed as he stormed on to the courtroom.
“Preseason, not preseason, situational basketball is super important,” he stated. “There’s just situational stuff regardless that you can learn from. I loved the effort and I loved our mindset, loved our physicality. There’s a lot of really good situational possessions that we can learn from.”
Source: www.bostonherald.com