“At the end of the day, they didn’t have Kristaps [Porzingis] and Jrue [Holiday] didn’t play,” Donovan Mitchell said after coming back down 22 points to beat the Celtics on Friday night.
A win’s a win, for sure. All credit to the Cavaliers. There’s a reason that Cleveland is ## games ahead of Boston in the Eastern Conference and the most likely #1 seed in the East. However, despite splitting the season series, it’s fair to think that Boston might have swept the Cavaliers in the regular season. Back in December, a 22-8 fourth quarter run led to a 4-point loss for a Jaylen Brown-less Celtics and to start the homestand, they dropped another without Porzingis and Holiday.
That may all be fan fiction at this point. The playoffs will all bear it out in a few months, but if you’re looking for hints of what a potential Eastern Conference Finals might look like, it’s very telling how the Celtics looked without Porzingis and Holiday.
While Mazzulla Ball has been mostly characterized by the team’s three-point attempts, what might be more defining is their hunting of mismatches. We saw it to devastating affect against the Knicks last week with Tatum attacking Karl-Anthony Towns and Brown picking on Josh Hart.
Against the Cavaliers, the Jays combined for 83 points on 61 field goal attempts. Only Derrick White got into double figures with 16 points on 12 shots. Tatum attacked Evan Mobley and Jarrett Allen off the dribble and hit 11-of-20. Brown targeted Darius Garland and Max Strus, hitting 7-of-10. That was nearly enough to beat a top-10 defense.
What could have put them over the top? Porzingis, the ultimate release valve.
Whether it was on those pick-and-pop kickouts or punishing smalling defenders in the high post, Porzingis averaged nearly 20 shot attempts over two games against the Cavaliers. Admittedly, KP didn’t exactly light up Cleveland this season (37.8% from the field) and Mazzulla has shown that he’ll go small to counter the Cavaliers’ size. Nevertheless, Porzingis’ unique role as a secondary option inside or out makes him a necessary piece come playoff time.
On the defensive side of the ball, not having Holiday was glaringly apparent. Mitchell exploded for 41 points on 50% shooting with eleven trips to the free throw line. In three games prior, Jrue Holiday defended Donovan Mitchell for just under 13 minutes and 53 possessions — the most in the league actually; Mitchell missed all five shots and didn’t score a single point. He was effective against him in the regular season and the playoffs last season, too.
Holiday may be going through a down year on offense while he deals with a shoulder impingement and now mallet finger on his shooting hand, but he’s shown in tough matchups that he’s still an all-world defender against the league’s best.
Two days later against the Nuggets, we saw again how missing both veteran starters impacted the Celtics. Boston was able to pull away from Denver 110-103 in another game against a contender in what was more of a collective effort. Four starters took 12-15 shots each Al Horford, Luke Kornet, and Neemias Queta were able to keep Nikola Jokic in check.
Mazzulla deadpanned, “we didn’t talk about Jokic in the gameplan. It’s not about him. It’s about controlling all the other stuff you can control.” And for Boston, that meant
They’re one of the best teams in the league on cuts. Can you take away their cuts? Can you take away their transition leak outs by not turning it over, by crashing the offensive glass? Can you keep them off the free throw line? Can you win the minutes when he’s not on the court?”
And instead of employing their killer whale philosophy, the Celtics were much more deliberate hunting open space with timely passing.
They racked up 26 assists on 37 made field goals — a total team effort after opening the homestand leaning heavily on Tatum and Brown.
To factor Porzingis and Holiday into an already winning equation might be overkill here. Queta, as he has all year, was above average in his minutes and finished a plus-11 in over 16 minutes. Payton Pritchard and Sam Hauser combined for 5-of-8 from behind the arc. But again, there’s still something to glean from the Celtics’ performance sans Porzingis and Holiday.
As much as the second unit came through, the strength of Holiday and Porzingis — on both sides of the ball — is their versatility. Queta’s energy around the rim on offensive rebounds and as a target in the dunker spot brings something different to the front court, but he’s not as reliable as a post-up threat or three-point shooter as Porzingis. Few are matchup nightmares like KP. Pritchard and Hauser got hot, but neither can take defensive stretches on either Jamal Murray or Jokic like Holiday can. There are no defensive mismatches for the All-Defense First Teamer.
Boston has managed without both vets throughout the year. There are numbers that even suggest that the Celtics are better when they’re not on the floor. But don’t get it twisted: come April, May, and June, they’ll play key roles when it matters most.
