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There is an old saying that says “basketball is a game of runs.” These runs can swing momentum of a game for one team and end the hopes of the opponent. My mind jumps to the Golden State Warriors dynasty of the late 2010’s where they used passing to find a wide open shooter on the court. These dominating runs would typically come in the third quarter and put games completely out of reach for their opponents. Any team in the NBA has the ability to go on a long scoring run but the way the Celtics have done it has just felt different.
Boston has been able two long scoring runs in their last four games. One was a 50-11 run between the 6:22 mark of the second quarter to the 1:39 mark of the third quarter against the Phoenix Suns on February 24th and the other was a 51-16 scoring run against the Brooklyn Nets on February 27th from the 7:07 mark of the third quarter to the 6:56 mark of the fourth quarter. In their win over the Philadelphia 76ers on March 1st, the Celtics didn’t have any 50+ point runs to end the game, but instead were able to use smaller runs to control the lead win the ball game.
I asked Jaylen Brown postgame on what he thought about this phenomena and he credited Boston’s ability to move the basketball. He said: “Just making the right play and moving the basketball…I just think that our offense just has a good flow to it right now, where it’s going from side to side, it’s not sticking too much, and then when we need to take advantage of a matchup we will, but it’s not like we’re looking for that every time.”
Brown went on to praise his teammates saying, “A lot of our guys are playing well right now. So from my standpoint, no need to force anything. Just continue to just create an advantage and just play from there and trust the game after that.”
The Celtics 11-1 run to the end the game against the 76ers is a great example of this phenomena. Although most of the points ended in Neemias Queta put-backs, Boston was able to create the original shot with the side to side motion that Brown mentioned. This was most apparent with Baylor Scheierman’s dagger three where Brown got doubled on the wing and was able to make the pass to the corner for the silencer.
Going back to the 50-11 run against the Suns. This run erased an 11-point deficit, resulted in Boston outscoring Phoenix 30-11 in the third quarter, and Sam Hauser outscored the Suns by himself with 13 points in the quarter. I wanted to focus on when Hauser was able to score 8 straight points for the Celtics towards the end of the run.
This burst by Hauser is another example of Boston’s side to side motion. The first play results in a corner three off two passes around the perimeter and the other’s come off long passes from Derrick White that leave Hauser wide open.
Prior to the 51-16 run against the Nets, Boston was in front but Brooklyn cut the lead 6 points. With the Nets’ history this season of playing the Celtics tough, this could turn into a close game in a second. However, the Celtics were able to rattle off this run that basically ended chance for the Nets to even attempt a come back.
During this run, Boston used their side to side ball movement to completely disect Brooklyn’s defense. The play that defines it for me is when Derrick White cut hard to the basket to receive a pass and fire a bullet to Nikola Vucevic for a wide open three.
In this same run, we also got an example of how the Celtics ball movement scaring their opponent. After four plays in a row where Boston passed the ball around to find a wide open basket, Jaylen Brown was setting up the pick and roll with Vucevic to do it again. Instead of passing it, Brown sped up straight towards the basket for a wide open dunk. The Nets weren’t able to respond on defense quick enough since they feared another kick out pass.
The Celtics ability to move the ball around the court is a big reason why they are ranked number 2 in offensive rating as a team at 121.2. For as much as Boston likes to pass the ball around, they do it without turning the ball over, leading the league in that category at only 12.2 turnovers per game. Joe Mazzulla is one of the best basketball minds in the game and this offense has been a work of art for Boston this season. The players have done an incredible job at knowing where to be on the court at all times and continuing to put up elite offensive performances without Jayson Tatum. This offense is a true testament to how special this Boston Celtics team really is but at the end of the day, basketball is just a game of runs.