Backsliding Celtics say poor spacing is creating an uphill battle

Celtics

Joe Mazzulla, Jaylen Brown, and Kristaps Porzingis all pointed to spacing issues after the loss.

The two biggest issues with Sunday’s loss to Oklahoma City, Celtics coach Joe Mazzulla said, were bad spacing, and poor screening.

Boston had several spacing issues on display in the second half, whether it was getting to spots late, getting pushed out of position, or simply standing around instead of moving without the ball.

Jaylen Brown finished with 21 points after being held scoreless in the second half. He, Jrue Holiday, Sam Hauser, and Payton Pritchard shot a combined 0-19 in the second half.

The Celtics had trouble adjusting to Oklahoma City’s matchup changes, which included switching Lu Dort onto Brown in the second half. As the game wore on, Brown said he noticed that the refs called the game differently than they did in the first half.

In the end, though, the Celtics failed to get where they needed to go, and the offense sputtered.

“I think it’s just a lack of poise,” Brown said. “Seeing the game, seeing how the game is being called, seeing the adjustments and being able to adjust quicker. Like, in the first half, we got to the line, we got free throws, we got what we wanted.”

“Then, in the second half we didn’t get to the line, they weren’t calling those touch fouls,” he added. “They upped the level of pressure and the whistle wasn’t on our side. So, it’s fine. We’ve got to be able to adjust faster and if we do, we have to be able to get to our spacing.”

When asked if there was anything he could do to adjust the spacing on the fly, Mazzulla did not mention anything specific. He said there’s been a lack of discipline that the Celtics need to tighten up.

“It’s just something you have to commit to every possession,” Mazzulla said. “As you’re playing the game and going through it and looking to process each possession, we’ve just got to fight for great spacing on every possession. Sometimes different matchups and different coverages will mess it up.”

“There was a possession there where we ran a pin-down and it was empty-sided and we weren’t able to get the corners filled and they were able to take advantage of that,” he continued. “So, a large portion of that is the discipline and and continuing to do it over and over again each possession as you try to work through the flow of the game.”

The defending champions are 5-5 over their last 10 games. For much of that stretch, the Celtics showed inconsistent effort on defense.

But, on Sunday, the offense was the main issue. Boston was held to a season-low 92 points and the Celtics found themselves forcing shots by the end. They kept firing up threes and finished a dreadful 9-for-46 from beyond the arc. When they drove to the basket, they were often met with help defense from Thunder defenders who took advantage of the poor spacing with timely rotations.

Other teams using their physicality to force the Celtics out of their comfortable spots is something that Boston has seen “a thousand times” before, Celtics center Kristaps Porzingis said.

The issue was not selfishness, he said. It had more to do with the lack of energy that the Celtics showed in the latter half of the game.

“Honestly, the first half was really good and kind of going our way and the second half, not the whole second half I would say,” Porzingis said. “But like mid-third towards almost the end of the game was just forcing and no space and it felt uphill playing. We couldn’t get the momentum. We couldn’t get the energy going for our side. Just a bad second-half of the game on our part.”

Khari A. Thompson

Sports Reporter

Khari Thompson covers professional sports for Boston.com. Before joining the team in 2022, Khari covered college football for The Clarion Ledger in Jackson, Miss.