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00:05 Hey, Bobby Manning here. Welcome to a Garden Report after the Celtics concluded their road trip with a loss.
00:14 A 1-2 road trip where they met challenges throughout. Shot poorly from three in all three games.
00:21 33% in the first one. Spent much of tonight below 30% here in Philadelphia.
00:28 In this 106-103 loss to the Sixers after suffering their worst three-point shooting night to that point in Minnesota.
00:36 A high volume of threes in all three games. Conversation point after the game as it often is with this team.
00:44 Here's what Joe Mizzoula had to say after when asked about how many threes the Celtics shot in this game.
00:51 I was just finished reading a great article that you wrote in 2016 that the Celtics shot too many threes and they shot 42.
00:59 And that was seven years ago. And they only shot five more tonight. And they lost 121 to 114 and you blame the offense.
01:06 But not the defense. So what's your fascination with too much threes for the last seven years?
01:13 It's not even seven years. It's 2016. It's 2023. I just read it. It was a great article.
01:18 Oh, thank you. Are the Celtics settling for too many threes? You said that seven years ago. You're ahead of the curve.
01:24 I am ahead of my time.
01:27 So an interesting exchange there with Boston Globe reporter Gary Washburn, of course on the A-List podcast here on CLNS Media.
01:36 Running joke between the two. I think there's some lightheartedness to the exchange there.
01:44 But this time going back and trying to grab an article from the past and use Gary's words against them, it was definitely an odd response to the question.
01:56 Especially when Gary, I think, came in with a little bit of lightheartedness there.
02:00 Although challenging, although poking at their perception or approach by the Celtics to be among the league leaders in three-point volume.
02:10 And they are to start this year. Almost half their three-point attempts coming from three or their field goal attempts coming from three so far this year.
02:18 Their free throw rate, middle of the pack. And they've mixed in post-ups, mid-rangers, as well as some isolation drives to give their offense some diversity.
02:29 And Joe's assessment after the game that they are finding multiple ways to score, I tend to agree with.
02:37 I do think if you look at the entire slate right now, the Celtics have grown slightly less reliant on the three.
02:46 And I think that's a big slightly. I think they're very close in terms of the amount of threes they're taking and their reliance on that shot to drive their offense.
02:56 They start this year the best shooting team in the league through their 5-0 start.
03:01 You wonder what's going to happen when they come down to earth a little bit here. And the last two games they did and they lost.
03:07 So you're wondering how much will this team's fortune swing on its three-point shooting.
03:13 The approach tonight improved throughout the flow of the game. And the Celtics, of course, went on a 10-0 run late.
03:18 Got the last shot to tie this game. And it was a good one from Christoph Porzingis who said that he stepped into it a little too passively.
03:27 Like it was a mid-ranger to use his words. And he knew it was going to come up short.
03:32 But a clean look where Harris flew by him. And emblematic of, I think, the Celtics offensive execution late in this game.
03:38 But that wasn't the case for much of it. I think early they settled often for threes.
03:43 Philly did two, which led to a bit of a back and forth one possession game through that first half.
03:48 Philly's rim protection was great. The Celtics came and went.
03:52 They swapped Porzingis and Horford a little bit. Especially after halftime when Porzingis picked up two quick fouls.
03:58 They went to Horford inside and got a little bit better rim protection and overall defensive versatility.
04:04 And Porzingis ends this game with 29 points. They did a much better job setting him up late here.
04:09 And he's the guy who should be shooting more threes.
04:13 About midway through the third quarter he got a pick and pop look from Jalen Brown.
04:18 And I look at the stat sheet and I'm like, that's just his third three. This is the guy who should be shooting eight, nine, ten threes a game.
04:24 And Boston was trying to use him in different spots. He did a great job playing the post in the second quarter.
04:29 Which gave the offense a new layer there. And I think stuff like that led to Joe considering this a good effort.
04:38 Did a lot of good things in this game and pointed to a bunch of areas that they did well when asked.
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04:59 Even with the fourth quarter execution, he received a question about that and he said he liked it.
05:06 The bench, he liked it. And we'll get to that in a minute. So that's what I had a problem with.
05:10 But the back and forth with Gary is going to stand out. This is something Joe did throughout much of last year.
05:16 Maybe it doesn't matter, but I wonder if it's a message to the team that they did good things.
05:20 The positive reinforcement. We know what this team is capable of at its best.
05:25 I think the challenge with this group is getting to that point often.
05:28 And the fact that they're struggling with that a little bit here early.
05:31 Albeit against some really good teams. Philadelphia, the second best team in the East.
05:36 6-1 now. A great new system under Nick Nereson. They're playing hard.
05:40 The MVP is on the other side of course and it's a road game.
05:43 So you understand them losing at some point. And Minnesota had the number one defense in the league.
05:47 But this was a machine on the Celtics end here.
05:51 The Minnesota game was good. For this game you end up down 14 midway through the fourth quarter.
05:55 And you rally late. But you were effectively out of it by then.
05:58 And that's why you end up losing this game.
06:01 And that's the point of the second quarter is the issue. That sunk the Celtics here.
06:05 Of course the defense in that quarter a disaster. I think the Sixers shot 15-28 there.
06:10 And if that's what did them in, that's what Joe's leaning on as a point of improvement out of this one.
06:16 But overall he was satisfied with their play in this one.
06:19 And the late comeback. Is it any solace? Let me know below.
06:24 And what do you think of just the overall approach by Joe Mazzullo so far early in the schedule?
06:29 Some high highs. A few lows recently. Where are the Celtics going to take this?
06:34 Going into a back-to-back on Friday and Saturday where their frontcourt depth will be challenged even more.
06:39 If Al Horford's going to sit out one of those games.
06:42 The Nets on Friday. The opener of the in-season tournament.
06:46 And then Saturday against what's always a tough Raptors team back in Boston.
06:50 Check out more of our coverage here in Philadelphia coming your way.
06:55 Here on Celtics All Access. All the postgame reaction on CLNS Media.
06:59 And for now, I'm Buddy Mann. This has been the Garden Report. Celtics lose 106-103.
07:04 To the 76ers here in fall to 5-2.
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