BOSTON — Brad Stevens doesn’t see it as much of a coincidence.
The Celtics head coach said after each of Boston’s two latest decisive wins, the most recent a 119-95 victory over the Memphis Grizzlies on Wednesday, he believes the team is “fresher.” That’s led to better play on both ends of the floor, but specifically on defense.
“We’ve pressured the ball better the last couple of games,” Stevens said postgame Wednesday at TD Garden. “I do think we look a little fresher, I think that’s part of it, but I think that we’re not allowing the ball to get to the paint before you feel pressure.”
The Celtics held Memphis guard Ja Morant to just two points on 1-for-5 shooting from the floor in 24 minutes. Morant averages 17.5 points this season.
“I’ve said this all year: If they (opponents) catch it on the block without any resistance, if they catch inside the three or at the 3-point line without resistance then we’re in trouble,” Stevens said. “Our best rim defense is keeping the ball away from it. We have to be able to push things out with our pressure.”
That defensive pressure — both creating turnovers in transition and in the full court — helped hold Memphis to just 42.4 percent from the floor (36-for-85) with 16 turnovers. It was the 12th time Boston held an opponent to fewer than 100 points this season.
Celtics forward Gordon Hayward agreed with Stevens’ assessment. He credited the team defense as a major factor in a 23-0 second-quarter run, which took just shy of seven minutes and ultimately put the game away. Over the final 6:53 of the second period, Memphis shot 1-for-12 from the field with six turnovers (two shot clock violations) all while the Celtics had four blocks on those 12 shot attempts.
“I think that we got a lot of deflections,” Hayward said. “I think that we were active defensively. We were in the right spots. Because of that, we were able to get out and run, and then get some easy ones.”
Celtics guard Marcus Smart has been a leader on the defensive end. And while he’s happy with the recent performances, he also knows what it’s going to take moving forward.
“It’s going to take everybody on the same page,” Smart said. “Everybody out there can guard multiple positions. That’s what makes it so hard. But (if) one guy is off not doing his job, or one guy is slacking or one guy is not going as hard, it affects the whole group. So, for us, it’s just staying focused and all on the same page.”
The Celtics will look for their defense to continue playing a major role when they face the Orlando Magic on Friday in search of a third straight win.
