Unlike the Warriors, the Celtics will not finish the preseason undefeated. The NBA champions fell last night, to the wire (119-118), in a meeting that looked like a rehearsal since the stars of both teams played a lot. In front of their home crowd, the Raptors took the Celtics by the throat to lead 46-27 after 12 minutes! At the heart of the game, Scottie Barnes is easy with the ball in hand, and skillful from afar. Opposite, the Celtics are clearly asleep.
Thanks to a 19-0, the 2024 champions will quickly get back into the match, but after the break, they will not find any solution to slow down Gradey Dick, completely released into the game. Even if Joe Mazzulla will leave his starters on the field for a long time , it is the end of the bench who will have the possibility of signing the hold-up. Notably Jordan Walsh and JD Davison, but DJ Carton will calm them down with free throws to snatch the victory.
A booster shot for Boston
“We are ready to compete, but more importantly we want to know how competitive we can be? » Mazzulla explained. after this first defeat. “How open-minded can we be to get back to our play readings, communication and building our automatisms to get back to where we were? »
For his counterpart, Darko Rajakovic, there also remain a lot of unanswered questions, but he is very proud of his young people, and their desire to play risky basketball, based on speed and open shots.
“There were situations in the last two games we played where we neglected open shots,” he recalls. “We have to do a better job of recognizing those situations and shooting with confidence… They have to feel comfortable with the wide play, with the penetration in the middle. They take a lot of shots in practice. This is an important point. They also need to start seeing him in matches. They can see in the videos, when we show them, that it was an opportunity to shoot, but they overlooked it. They have to feel comfortable taking those shots.”
Advice that he no longer has to give to Scottie Barnes, one pass from the triple-double, and very comfortable shooting 3-pointers on transition plays. “He is our leader, and his energy is contagious. We feed off him, and he’s the one who allows us to play like that,” emphasizes Dick about Barnes.
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How to read the stats? Min = Minutes; Shots = Successful shots / Attempted shots; 3pts = 3-points / 3-points attempted; LF = free throws made / free throws attempted; O = offensive rebound; D=defensive rebound; T = Total rebounds; Pd = assists; Fte: Personal fouls; Int = Intercepts; Bp = Lost balls; Ct: Against; +/- = Point differential when the player is on the field; Pts = Points; Eval: player evaluation calculated from positive actions – negative actions.
