Notable Week Reveals Celtics Strengths, Weaknesses

Getty Jason Tatum and the Celtics lost narrowly to the Nuggets this week.

Upon further review …

— After a re-watch of Thursday’s 115-109 loss in Denver, the most important contrast between the Celtics and the defending NBA champions is that the Nuggets have a well-defined and tested crunch time action. The Shamrocks have a good idea of where they want the ball to end up; they just don’t appear to be sure of how they want to get it there.

The high pick and roll with Jamal Murray and Nikola Jokic opens a world of possibilities, particularly when Jokic gets the rock and bulls his way into the paint for a bucket or some of the slickest interior passing the league has ever seen.

The Celtics knew it was coming and defended it pretty damn well, or as well as possible — except on those occasions throughout the game when miscommunication allowed for wide open cutters.

At the other end of the floor, the Celtics’ strength lies in their ability to beat you in a number of ways after pulling the defense out of position with passing and cutting. Yet they often go to thinly disguised — or even stark — isolations in tight situations.

Celtics Can Be ‘Scariest’ Offensive Team

One NBA coach told me this week that the Celtics were the scariest offensive team he’d seen since Golden State had Kevin Durant riding shotgun with Steph Curry and Klay Thompson.

“The thing I worry about with Boston is that they sometimes hunt mismatches too hard, instead of just playing and letting them happen more organically,” he said. “When they’re whipping the ball around, damn, that’s some beautiful s*** to watch, and you’re thinking, ‘How the hell are we ever going to stop this?’

“But if you can slow them down, some of their guys get frustrated and try to make plays. They’re good enough to do it a lot of the time, but if it doesn’t work once or twice, it seems to throw them off on both ends.

“The thing is, the game slows down in the playoffs, and that’s going to be the challenge for them. They have to play with pace even in the halfcourt.”

Celtics Still Looking for Right Bench Mix

With new acquisition Xavier Tillman getting the second-most minutes off the Boston bench (13:25 to Al Horford’s 18:51), it’s clear Joe Mazzulla is still understandably looking for the right sub solutions for his rotation. And much of it will be based on matchups for a particular opponent.

But with the way Sam Hauser is shooting — 41.8 percent on treys and no hesitation — he has to find his way into more combinations. The ancillary benefit to his marksmanship is the space to drive it allows for others. Getting 10:17 on the floor in Denver may not have been enough.

Free-Throw Woes Costly

The most truly amazing aspect of Thursday’s game?

How about the Celtics missing nine free throws, committing some unfathomable live-ball turnovers, shooting 28.9 percent on treys, failing to box out on the weak side… and still being within an open Jayson Tatum 3-pointer of taking a lead with 45 seconds left?

The Celts may, indeed, choose to draw a ray of comfort from this and know in their heart they can be so much better. But they also know that no matter how well they play the rest of their regular season, the national TV response narrative to any good win is going to be, “Yeah, but…”

The late-game execution in tight quarters will be broken down into some unflattering numbers.

It’s a doubt that can really only be washed away in the playoffs. And if the Celtics are wise, they’ll welcome that challenge.