Celtics turnovers still a problem to start 2023-24 season
Celtics turnovers. At this stage, the phrase is becoming redundant.
So, while the Celtics won the game last night against the New York Knicks – and that’s never a small thing – they also picked up right where they left off last season, at least in some ways. Boston collected just 18 assists against 13 turnovers, which is hardly the kind of ration anyone is looking for. The good news? Most of the turnovers were not the result of dribbling into traffic, which the Celtics have done repeatedly over the last two postseasons. Instead, the Celtics tried to pass into traffic or, in some cases, to really no one in particular at all. The result, unsurprisingly, was a Knicks transition break in the opposite direction.
You can get a look at all the bad passes here:
Of course, the Celtics have also had some turnover in their roster, which is to say that Jrue Holiday and Kristaps Porzingis effectively have replaced Marcus Smart and Robert Williams. The new Celtics will obviously need some time to develop with their teammates. But in terms of the sloppy passing, Holiday and Jaylen Brown appear to be the biggest culprits in the video above, where the Celtics collectively sometimes looked like they needed to have their eyes examined.
That said, the biggest offender in the game was none other than Jayson Tatum, who had a pair of ugly passes early and finished with a team-high four turnovers, including one while dribbling into traffic late in the game.
Tatum also finished with 34 points and 11 rebounds, also leading the team. The Celtics did finish with 11 blocks as a team, including an impressive four by Porzingis, which you can see here.
