Three things from Celtics-Pistons – CelticsBlog

THE Boston Celtics beat the Detroit Pistons Friday night. The final score was 127-102. This game didn’t matter.

Joe Mazzulla said this after the Celtics’ victory against the Milwaukee Bucks Wednesday. With Giannis Antetokounmpo out for Milwaukee and the Celtics missing Jrue Holiday and Sam Hauser, there wasn’t much to learn.

“Nothing. I can’t take anything away from the match,” Mazzulla said.

It’s not even April yet and the Celtics have a chance to win the conference this weekend. If they win Saturday and the Bucks lose, they will have locked up the lone seed in the East. In March.

None of the games between now and the playoffs matter to Boston. They can learn things about their players, test coverages and generate rhythm. But the victories and defeats now only have meaning for the historic place of Boston’s record.

For this reason, match watching is less about general plots and more about niche subplots – the niches in nothing.

Photo by Chris Schwegler/NBAE via Getty Images

1. Svi Mykhailiuk’s defensive progression

With Hauser out for a few games, Svi Mykhailiuk got an extra point. When Hauser returned to the lineup against Detroit, Mykhailiuk remained in the rotation.

Trust has never been an issue with Mykhailiuk. His shooting stroke has always been excellent as well. Defensively, however, the question marks persist.

It’s still not great, but his activity has been rampant in Boston’s two games against the Pistons this week.

In Monday’s match, Mykhailiuk was a real pest with the ball. Here, he stopped a James Wiseman dunk by staying in the lane to disrupt the pick-n-roll rather than following his man.

He has been very aware, keeping his head turned and helping whenever necessary.

That said, Mykhailiuk’s off-ball pressure is akin to the freedom Jrue Holiday enjoys when he’s on the floor. The big difference is that Mykhailiuk is often not quick enough to recover from his bets.

Jared Rhoden gets a wide-open triple here because Mykhailiuk tried to pressure the ball at the top of the key. He could have turned back time, but his feet couldn’t keep up with his mind.

He also struggled to be on the same page with his teammates.

Payton Pritchard sparked this play, but Mykhailiuk followed his man around the screen. Just as he sprinted to resume his new assignment, he ran into a screen and Marcus Sasser got an easy jumper.

Mykhailiuk, however, showed solid post defense against Cade Cunningham.

His initial bump was good, but not jumping with Cunningham could have led to an easy bucket. Timing is the next step in his defensive progression.

Mykhailiuk is a work in progress on that side of the court, and it’s unclear if the Celtics will keep him around long enough to finish the job. But his energy is high, which is a great first step.

Photo by Gregory Shamus/Getty Images

2. Jaylen Brown’s vision

Last year, Jaylen Brown’s season ended when he was forced to be the Celtics’ number one option. He had a career-high eight turnovers in Game 7 against the Miami Heat.

This year, Brown’s vision on the court has reached a new height. It’s not Mount Everest yet, but it’s at least K2.

Friday’s game against the Pistons might draw some attention, as Brown had no assists on a night when Boston was missing Jayson Tatum. But assists only count if his teammates make the shot.

Simple passes like this dish to Sam Hauser are obvious.

But this cross pass to find Pritchard on the other side of the field was exceptional. Someone in the video can even be heard saying, “Great pass.”

And this pass to Derrick White in the same corner is even more impressive. Brown fights his way through a crowd of reds and blacks, and as he’s about to move, he fakes Chimeze Metu and finds White.

The next step for Brown is to make sure all of his passes hit his teammates in the chest, but his vision was superb on Friday. Box scores never tell the whole story.

Photo by Chris Schwegler/NBAE via Getty Images

3. Payton Pritchard’s stop-and-start

Over the past few games, Pritchard has been one of the best players on the court for the Celtics. He plays with a confidence that rivals the game’s biggest stars.

One of his best assets is how quickly he can change gears. Friday night, the Pistons were victims of this time and time again.

Here’s Pritchard running the pick-n-roll with Luke Kornet. As soon as he puts Metu on him, it’s over. Pritchard hesitates for half a second as if he were about to take the ball away, then he lunges forward.

Once Metu is on his back, Pritchard uses his positioning to throw the ball up and inside for an easy layup.

This one is much more subtle. Pritchard doesn’t hit Jaden Ivey with the jerky move that drew Metu. Instead, it starts its drive in one gear and then shifts up to a higher gear. He smoked the layup, but the move was still successful.

Another subtlety, Pritchard starts the game with a hesitation above the wing. Troy Brown Jr. bites on the pump fake, as Pritchard is a deadly threat from beyond the arc, and he’s toast from there.

Pritchard takes a little stutter step halfway through his drive, but he just uses his speed once Brown Jr. is off-balance, and the layup is easy money.

Celtics-Pistons means nothing. It was just another tick in the win column for Boston. But finding niches in nothing is the only way to make it to the final stage of the season.