Bill Sy: Last week, I wrote about how, because of the influx of talent (particularly Kyrie Irving as a pick-and-roll ball handler), the Celtics don’t have to pass the ball as much and can rely heavily on a single action to start the offense. Whether it’s a PnR with Irving and Al Horford or a dribble hand off with Jaylen Brown or Jayson Tatum, it doesn’t take much to start the defense rotating and sinking into the key.
Before last night, the Celtics had moved up to 12th in OffRtg (they fell to 14th after the blowout) and started to create an identity on that end of the floor.