Most Noticeable Celtics Offensive Flaw Cause For Concern?

The Boston Celtics have been among the NBA’s strongest offensive units, however, they haven’t been flawless.

Sitting among the top ranks in points (fourth) and rebounds (second), the dividends of Boston’s front office adding Kristaps Porzingis and Jrue Holiday have already been visible. The front court has been its strongest in the Jayson Tatum-Jaylen Brown era and the ability for all of Boston’s starters to score from anywhere poses an at-times unreal five-man threat.

The problem? Albeit early on, the flip side of Boston’s quick offensive dominance has been a nearly league-worst ability to assist.

Celtics head coach Joe Mazzulla, who isn’t oblivious to the need for improvement in ball movement, believes there needs to be a healthy balance.

“I know what it can’t be. It can’t be the Minnesota game, but I do think it’s not going to be, like, pass, pass, pass all the time, right?” Mazzulla told reporters before Saturday night’s Celtics-Raptors game, as seen on NBC Sports Boston’s pregame coverage. “I think it just has to be making sure we play together and take what the defense gives us. I think our last two games we found. a good balance of, like, there’s a time for isolation, there’s a time for pass, pass moving the basketball. I didn’t like that in the Minnesota game.”

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In Boston’s loss to the Timberwolves, its first of the season, the Celtics totaled a second-to-worst 20 assists accompanied by a season-high 16 turnovers. The offense, at times, was stagnant and unset, resulting in rushed shot attempts and plenty of misses for Minessotta to turn into transition baskets.

That felt a long way from the same Celtics offense that dropped a 155-point bomb on the Pacers just a few nights prior. Granted, Indiana’s defense isn’t Minnesota’s, but the execution wasn’t nearly the same either.

The Celtics ranked 24th in assist percentage (56.9) before entering Saturday night’s home matchup. It’s evident that the offense is fully capable of toying with less-than-stellar opponents on that end of the floor, but that only goes so far for a Boston team entering yet another year with championship expectations in place from the start.

Limiting the inexcusable turnovers, which were very prevalent in the Minnesota loss, would be the ideal direction for rejuvenating that flaw.

There’s no question that the Celtics could be the undisputed best offensive unit in the NBA, but in that same sentiment, there isn’t any room for leeway in giving opponents free momentum through lousy execution either.

Based on the still-small sample size that’s been eight games played, there isn’t a whole lot of reason for concern — yet.