Post Game - Preseason vs Hornets - Thursday, October 19 (W)

Celtics-Hornets takeaways: Brown, C's end preseason in dominant fashion

https://www.yahoo.com/sports/celtics-hornets-takeaways-brown-cs-012032356.html

Justin Leger
Thu, October 19, 2023 at 9:41 PM EDT·3 min read

The Boston Celtics put a bow on their preseason with a blowout win over the Charlotte Hornets on Thursday night.

It didn't take long for the exhibition to get out of hand. The Celtics had more assists (13) in the first quarter than the Hornets had field goals (10). Boston's defense dominated throughout, limiting Charlotte to 42 percent shooting from the field and just 14.3 percent from 3-point range in a 127-99 victory at Spectrum Center.

Every active Celtics player scored and all five C's starters scored in double figures. Jaylen Brown racked up a game-high 20 points and was followed by Derrick White (15 points) and Kristaps Porzingis (14 points).

The Celtics wrapped up their preseason with a 4-1 record. They'll open their 2023-24 regular season next Wednesday against the New York Knicks at Madison Square Garden.

Here are our takeaways from Thursday's preseason finale.

Jaylen Brown in midseason form

Brown has slid under the radar amid the Porzingis and Holiday hype, but he capped off a rock-solid preseason with a brilliant performance on Thursday.

The veteran wing set the tone for the lopsided win with 13 points on 5-of-7 shooting (3-4 3-PT) in the first quarter.



He kept it rolling in a second quarter that included this thunderous dunk:



Since Brown couldn't miss, it was only fitting that he drilled a full-court shot to end the first half. It didn't count as it came after the buzzer, but it still perfectly summed up the two-time All-Star's night.



Brown ended with 20 points (8-12 FG, 4-5 3-PT), four rebounds, an assist, and a steal in 23 minutes. He's ready for Opening Night.

Neemias Queta makes final case for a role

Queta, signed to a two-way deal, is a candidate to provide much-needed frontcourt depth behind the oft-injured Porzingis and 37-year-old Al Horford. His preseason has been a solid audition for a consistent role off the bench.

The 7-footer starred for the second unit in Charlotte, hitting all six of his shots for 12 points in 13 minutes. He added seven rebounds (five offensive) and a steal for good measure.



Fouls have been an issue for Queta, and he had two more on Thursday night, but the former Sacramento Kings center has otherwise impressed. Players signed to two-way contracts can't be on the team's active roster for more than 50 games during the regular season, but Queta should have his moments for the C's during the 2023-24 campaign.

Best defensive performance of the preseason

The Celtics scored at will through the first four games of their preseason, but so did their opponents. They allowed at least 57 points during the first halves of each of those games.

Thursday was a different story. Boston's defense wasn't just great against Charlotte, it was historic. It set a franchise record with 22 steals.



It was a total team effort defensively with 13 different players accounting for those steals. Jayson Tatum, Jrue Holiday, and Dalano Banton led the way with three apiece. Derrick White had two steals and three blocks.

This game was a perfect example of what this Celtics team is capable of when it clicks on both ends of the floor. It was utter dominance, and that's what's expected out of this loaded roster as it enters the new season as the 2024 NBA championship favorite.

It's good to be a Celtic fan this year.

Was only able to catch snippets of the game, all in the 2nd half.  Pizza and a 65cl Heineken held court in the first.

Charlotte went on a 12-0 run to end the game and still lost by 28.

Queta got a legit look, again.  13 minutes.  Are they trying to decide to upgrade him from the two-way as teams are trimming their rosters down in anticipation of Opening Night?  Players are becoming available off the waiver wire (e.g. Khem Birch and Darius Bazley).  Is Joe playing Queta as much as he is to give Brad more data to pick a path?  He had 12 points, 7 rebounds in 13 minutes, 5 of those 7 rebounds were offensive.  Gabriel only got 7 minutes and has hardly played in the preseason.  Luke didn't get off the bench at all last night and considering the only Celtics on our bloated 19-man preseason roster who didn't play besides him were nonagenarian Al Horford, who didn't even travel with the team to Charlotte, and ACL-down Jay Scrubb that pretty much makes Luke the only healthy and available Celtic to not play.  He's Brad's fair haired boy, and we know Joe likes him too, so WTF?  I'm all for finding more depth at big, giving other bigs minutes, but unless Luke isn't going to play this year then why wouldn't you let him get some reps?  I'm not trying to be all conspiratorial here, but it doesn't make sense to me for him to not take his warmups off during a 40 point blowout.

The starting 5 all played exactly 23 minutes.  Seems like Joe wanted that unit to get reps together.  That unit was the one that would have Al coming off the bench rather than Derrick.  I suppose that makes sense.  If we're going to rest Al for b2bs and such then it makes sense for him not to be a regular starter since his nights off would disrupt that unit.  Bench players understand they might be thrown on the floor with any other players but starters expect they'll be playing a lot of their minutes with the same other 4 players.  

Jrue with 7 assists and zero turnovers.  Derrick with 15 points and 3 blocks.  Our starting back court, assuming my prediction is correct, is awesome.

Pritchard with a poor shooting night, 1-6, but 8 assists and zero turnovers.  I think I would rather have a boxscore like this from him than the other way around.  We know he can shoot, we know he's not going to go 1-6 very often.  What we don't know is if he can run a 2nd unit offense like a point guard and not like a shooter in a point guard's body.  8 and oh is pretty frippin' nice.

A little more on the point guard depth issue shows that Davison is a natural point guard.  He is always looking to pass first.  In just 11 minutes he had 5 assists and zero turnovers.  If he ever learns how to shoot he'll be a very nice addition to some team.  This is his last year of eligibility as a two-way for us, I believe.  If he's not in the gym every single day launching upwards of 1000 shots from all over then he's cheating himself.  And if he doesn't get a haircut Rosalie will lose her mind.

Oshae looks like a place holder.  I'm having trouble seeing him higher than 10th man.  Al, Pritch and Sam are the obvious 6-8, and I can't see Oshae being 9th or 10th and that's without even knowing who's better.  I just don't think it's him.  He looks ok, but only ok.  I don't see opposing coaches making changes when they see him get up and walk to the scorer's table.  I don't see them thinking "ok, here comes their stopper, I need to adjust our offense" or "ok, here comes their microwave, I need to adjust my defense".  Hold the fort for a couple of minutes, Oshae, don't let the barbarians get over the ramparts and into the keep and that's good enough.  Well maybe it is but I'd like a 9th or 10th man that can put the fear of God into them once in a while as opposed to merely "not getting stampeded".  

Lamar, on the other hand, looks like a live wire.  I'm not talking about a little sparky-spark wire neither.  He's full on industrial-sized.  A real bruiser, a very physical player.  He got 12 minutes last night, vs 10 for Oshae, and I didn't understand why he was sent in so late in the game.  He has impressed me every time I've seen him on the floor.  12 points in 12 minutes and, refreshingly, none of them from 3.  He got them the old-fashioned way, he rammed them down peoples' throats.  I'm liking what I've seen from Lamar so far.  Wherever Oshae is on the depth chart Lamar deserves to be ahead of him, at least from my viewpoint.  Ok, now that I've gotten here, I just have to find one more player ahead of Oshae, and that shouldn't be TOO hard.

Banton with 16 minutes, the same as Pritchard.  Joe is really willing him forward.  I sense that Joe really sees great potential in Dalano, is trying to help him fulfill it, and is particularly harsh on him when he doesn't live up to Joe's expectations for him.  He could be 10th, if for no other reason than that Joe likes him.

And, just like that, Oshae drops out of the rotation.

22 steals, and that's just the Celtics.  I don't know if I've ever seen a game, nor a boxscore, with 22 steals for one team.  Tatum, Holiday and Banton with 3 each.  Banton, making Joe look wise.

We took 45 3s.  A ridiculously high 105 fgas in a regulation game and 45 of them 3s.  Anytime a Joe Mazzulla led team takes < 45% of their fgas as 3s that's an eye opener.  As rich as these numbers look consider we also scored 70 points in the paint.  Once again, I don't think I've ever seen a game, nor a boxscore, in which one team scored 70 paint points.  A lot of inside points and a lot of long-range attempts.  Welcome to the modern NBA where everything is a layup or a 3.  It's amazing that mid-range snipers like DeMar DeRozan still exist, but when he's gone I'm afraid he's the last.  The last of a dying breed, an anachronism.  A damn shame, if you ask me. The more variety of offensive threats you have on your team the harder it is to defend effectively.


https://www.espn.com/nba/boxscore/_/gameId/401591928


Bob


.

BobH,

The coaching staff know what they need to know about Luke Kornet. It is a preseason game and the coaches wanted to see what the new guys could do with some extended time on the floor. It could be that simple.

I agree with you on Oshae. For some reason, I thought he'd bring more to the team.

Banton has length, but he cannot shoot. The coaches want to change that. If he is still eligible, he may spend some time in Portland to work on that.

Nice wrap up to pre-season.

Some tough choices for the final roster.

I think there is a chance Queta or Davison end up on the team and get the two way contract swapped out. I would not be surprised to see Brissett disappear, early in the season if not now. Odds are they keep him but he wasn’t that noticeable in college and less so as a pro. I think Banton will be out of the rotation, but get late game minutes. Stevens will be a rotation player, Pritchard is first guard off the bench when both Holiday and White start.

Yes it is, worcester, yes it is.  

The only winner for the Charlotte Hornets over its life in the NBA has been Michael Jordan.  Still don't see how he got $3 Billion for a perennial POC and still maintain a minority interest.  But I digress.  

All around good showing from this team.  We're all watching the bench.  Al was a scratch as well.  P-Squared with 8 assists.  His shot was off so he did what all smart players do when one part of your game is not working...find other ways to help. Also got two steals.  Hopefully the rest of the team will take notice of that quick change-up mid-stream when the 3-ball ain't working like it wasn't last night.  

TO's/Points Off TO's a little odd with BOS showing 15/14 and CHA 24/32.  So we created a bunch of TO's/Steals (22-8 steals at that.  BTW, what's the difference between steals and TO's?  Who induces them?) but could not capitalize on them.  Wazzupwitdat?!  That's not good.  We should have won by 50 if that's what I'm reading and saw watching the game.

Media already pointing out that this team will shoot more 3-balls than last season where we were at or near the top of rocket launchers in the league.  45-48/game seems to be the new target.  That's one 3-point shot at least every minute of the game.

We also took 105 shots overall last night.  That's 2.1875 per minute.  You gotta be running, creating havoc and TO's to make that stick.

Bench had a chance to establish itself last night.  Doogie was 2-5 from 3-ville, couple of steals.  Very Good.   Oddly, Stevens very efficient from the floor at 5-6, but was a (-7) for +/-.  I must have fell asleep.  His defense must need improving.  Quota went above quota!  DW and Banton leading the way with 3 steals each.  Nice!!

Alright.  Looks like the weekend is off for everyone getting ready for Tuesday (TNT) and Wednesday opening nights!  Here we go!!

db

Hey O I mean Bob Heckler we already know what Kornet can do, which generally isn’t much. I like what I’m seeing from Queta, he seems to have a knack for offensive rebounding. He’s much quicker up and down the floor and in tight spaces in the paint than Luke. Hes showing good hands and finishing ability on his rolls. He definitely gravitates to the dirty work which is all we need in a 3rd string big. I like him and hope he can earn more PT.

Another thing I’m liking overall about this team is how much depth and new options we have at wing. Brad did a great job getting new faces/talent here on the cheap that give us better options than last year.

Last night's final preseason game has been well documented, so I will avoid adding redundancy to the conversation.  I will mention the 105 FGA's which is special and resulted from high end defensive pressure combined with transition opportunities and an overwhelming pace.

This preseason provided me with more insight into how this team may perform.  Individual performances by key players for the most part lends itself to a very positive outlook for the 2023-24 season.

Conjecture about our starting unit appears to have been resolved.  The Celtics want to play fast by going with a single big lineup.   On any given night we could see other configurations but a 2-big lineup does not make the best use of this roster given our lack of quality big man depth.

Starting essentially a 2 point guard tandem only works if PP can be an everyday rotation guy off the bench.  His ability to score the basketball has never been in doubt but I needed to see his point guard skills to run a high powered offense.  It appears to me that he has worked to improve his PNR execution which is really the bread and butter of any quality PG.  

Brad added 4 wings/forwards to the team.  Left over Sam Hauser will likely get the nod early on but he did not have a particularly impressive preseason.  (30% from the field and 30.6% from deep on 7.2 attempts per game)   He missed a ton of wide open looks and also missed a lot of contested shots.  He is working to get his shot off quicker but his mechanics are off because his feet are not set when he is forced to shot too quickly.  He could easily slide out of the top 8 rotation if he continues to perform like he did during this preseason.

Oshae Brissett and Lamar Stevens are still questionable additions although Stevens was more effective.  Both logged 15 MPG.  Steven was better offensively and also was slightly better on the glass.  (7.5 PPG at 52.3% vs 4.2 PPG on 30% shooting.  Neither one of them are legit 3 point shooters but Stevens knows how to score and made great shots in the painted area and his force at the rim was freaky impressive.  Both defended fairly well but because Stevens brings a 230 LB frame to the fight his impact was clearly more forceful.

Svi can shoot the basketball and he is very aggressive in doing so.  People will look at him and Hauser in similar context because they are both 3 point shooters.  Svi however just looks more comfortable shooting off the bounce.  

With Weyen getting waived, the roster has one open spot if Queta remains on a 2-way deal.  

A single big lineup affords the opportunity to use Al Horford off the bench as our backup center.  That means that Kornet and Queta will have limited playing time. Kornet continues to be a soft player while Queta plays with noticeable Force.  When the Celtics need more physicality in the post on defense, Queta may be able to give them that element while scoring at the rim on offense.

Rookie Jordan Walsh will get plenty of reps up in Maine.  I like his potential at the wing.  At 19 he remains in the developmental stage.

If one of our 3 PG's misses a game JD Davidson will make a short trip down to Boston.

A word of praise for our starters including new additions in Holiday and Porzingas.  D White is quicker now because he shaved his head (lol)  ESPN did not recognize who he was and inadvertently left him off of the top 100 team.  

KP is fantastic.  Just stay healthy.

Jrue Holiday plays on a higher plain than most PG's in the NBA.  This player has a tremendous amount of energy.  He consistently plays hard one play after another. Upgrading your PG and center positions will propel the Celtics to tile # 18.  

With a year of seasoning under his belt, CJ looks posed to write his own music.  With the additions of Cassell and Lee to the coaching staff, this team looks really impressive.