7 weeks after the start of the season, NBA standings It seems A boa constrictor that digests elephants in “The Little Prince”. 4th in Eastern Conference brooklyn nets 14-12, 2.5 games ahead of 11th place Washington Wizards4th in the West Denver Nuggets Two games behind conference leader new orleans pelicans 2 more games to 11th place Minnesota Timberwolves.
Only two teams 21-5 boston celtics and 18-6 milwaukee bucks — You’re winning over two-thirds of the games. And there is reason to believe that both will be significantly better.
The Celtics and Bucks have dominated in many ways. They won’t see each other until Christmas, but they didn’t go all out on this, so it’s worth checking out now.
And because that is about to change.
2022 Finals created a (green) monster
When the Celtics got injured in the NBA Finals, everyone handled it their way.When Marcus Smart couldn’t sleep over the summer, he watched the movie again. he told athleticsFor Grant Williams, it was the last thing he wanted to do.
“I don’t see it,” Williams said. “I can’t see it. Yeah, that shit pissed me off.”
Williams doesn’t want to look back “because I know what happened.” “I know what it was. We played against them six times.”
four times, golden state warriors Suffocated Boston. The Celtics have won 33 of their last 43 games in the regular season, in which he scored 118.5 points per 100 possessions, but in the Finals he managed only 105.6 points per 100 and just 95.8 points per 100 possessions. Stephen Curry’s Game 4 explosion was legendary, but it didn’t leave a scar.
“It wasn’t our defense that crushed us,” Williams said.
Boston’s offense is now a different beast. A 3-point shot was taken. Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown are making careers (again), in part because they’re making it look easier, with more space and pace. We’re creating an easier look by setting up more off-ball screens.All of Joe Mazura’s new coaching changes are designed to keep the offense from crumbling like it did in the Finals. .
“He was into it,” Williams said. “He definitely had some ideas of where he could improve on the offensive side…and that was his number one priority. I thought I did
This is a rare case where “amazing” is an understatement. Boston scored him 119.9 points per 100 possessions after he suffered a 125-98 crushing loss at Phoenix on Wednesday. This is the most efficient offense in NBA history. The half court score is 108.3 per 100 per CTG, better than a few teams have scored overall. The Celtics shooting split is .493/.400/.844, with his seven players Tatum, Williams, Brogdon, Hauser and Al his Horford, Derrick White and Peyton Pritchard lining up his catch-and-shoot. accounts for more than 40% of 3 seconds.
Since the beginning of training camp, Mazura has emphasized “creativity,” White said. “Don’t throw with the same line of sight [at the defense]Just create an advantage and maintain that advantage. So we’ve been doing different things, a lot of random things. And it’s working for us. “
To beat a defense like the Warriors, Boston needed to be like them on offense. It needed to be unpredictable.Mazura’s offense is the same as former Celtics assistant Will Hardy founded in Utahexcept for the two star wings at the center of everything.
“Obviously, JT and JB could get a lot of attention, and everyone else just walks away from it and is ready to shoot,” White said. has five guys who can shoot, drive and create for someone else.”
By adding White in February and Brogdon in the summer, the Boston front office has piled up playmakers on its roster.Unlike “Too competent” But four years ago in the Celtics, the pieces fit on both ends. Williams said his blistering stats on offense reflect trust, buy-in and “everyone’s growth going forward.” He said the defense was “slowly coming back” following the win in Brooklyn, which was his best performance of the season in terms of points allowed.
Boston’s defensive rating is currently tied for eighth on the season and has been ranked fifth since November 7th. Mazura attributed the improvement to his improved pressure on the ball and active hands, adding that he was pleased with the effort, execution and quality of his opponents’ shots.
“There’s no difference between this year and last year, except Rob is gone,” Mazzura said.
Robert Williams III, arguably the NBA’s most devastating help defender, is “very close to coming back,” Mazzura said. He underwent arthroscopic knee surgery in late September, but he has already played practice games with the team and ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski reported Wednesday. He will be back in a week and a half. Across 26 games, the Celtics haven’t traded much of his rim protection, but they’ve overcome that absence, according to Cleaning The Glass, with a 9.9-point difference in litter-free minutes and more Completely 3 points better than the other team.
That points gap isn’t to scare fellow competitors. The scary part is that Boston has gone from being a historically great defensive team to a historically great offensive team, and on the verge of being both at the same time.
no worries, just the vibe
The Bucks needed a clutch 3 from Grayson Allen to escape New York with a 109-103 win at Madison Square Garden last Wednesday. They had by the third quarter he missed 21 of his 26 three-point attempts and Giannis Antetokounmpo fouled late in the fourth. They played with fire and didn’t get burned.
Milwaukee manager Mike Budenholzer said: “It wasn’t a good game at all.
The Bucks aren’t worried about how they fought offensively, as many of their games have been ugly.
“I wouldn’t say [concerned] Absolutely,” said Pat Connaughton.
“No,” Bobby Portis agreed.
At the time, Milwaukee was the top defensive team in the league, but ranked only 17th in offensive efficiency and 21st on half courts according to Cleaning The Glass. For a team with championship ambitions in his quarter of the season, subpar scores like this are usually alarming.
Budenholzer said he would like the Bucks to manage the ball more but hopes the numbers improve. “I’m happy with the quality of the shots,” he said, adding, “We’re trying to learn and grow offensively in some way.” I can do it.
“Of course you want to be higher and better,” Budenholzer said. ”
The biggest reason is the perennial All-Star who made his season debut two days later. Antetokounmpo and Drew Holiday had to shoulder an uncomfortable amount of playmaking responsibility while Khris Middleton recovered from wrist surgery. As Middleton gets more minutes, the Bucks should become more efficient. Connaughton has also missed the first month, and the team hopes Joe Ingles, who signed for the offseason after undergoing ACL surgery in February, will tie up the room relatively quickly.
But beyond health, the Bucks are confident heading into 2021. Their championship was a testament to their determinationespecially for their ability to score victories when their offense isn’t flowing well, every possession is a grind and the stakes are as high as they get.
“Defense is what we really want to focus on and that’s what we were focusing on two years ago,” Connaughton said. “It started with defense, then came offense.”
“If you look at our offense throughout the playoffs, except for the Miami Series, we didn’t shoot really well,” Portis said. “Defense helped us attack in spurts, play collectively, share basketball, and take good shots. is what we are working on.”
After Wednesday’s 126-113 win over Sacramento, Milwaukee is 14th on offense and 16th on half court, according to CTG. Ideally, we’ll be juggernauts on both sides in the coming months, with Middleton and Ingles back in full force and on the wing. always says the same thing.
“I think our chemistry and camaraderie is the best ever,” Portis said. “A missed shot is one thing, but trying to connect on the defensive side is another. We try to connect as much as we can on that side because it helps us win games and close games. ”
The most important story of the Bucks’ season may have already been written.They’re Brook Lopez and they’ve taken the defense to another level confine the paintJevon Carter badge ring ball handler Also, opposing shooters are no longer penalized for firing a 3 over the break. Seen through a certain lens, winning on roads that are harder than they should be Knicks The last days of November are encouraging.
“Hey, I don’t want to say that. fun Connaughton said, “Because winning ugly isn’t necessarily a habit you want to pick up…our five years together.”
The Bucks have cultivated the belief that “shots will fall” as long as they keep their cool, Connaughton said. “Otherwise, we’ll try to find a way to crash the offensive glass or try to find a way to win when we shouldn’t.” You may not even need to go back to your -21 season form. Their offense was so bad against Boston in last year’s playoffs that they nearly won that seven-game series without Middleton playing a minute. If he’s simply present for a rematch, the Celtics will be playing against a radically different team.
But so will the Bucks.
