‘We were all figuring it out’: Celtics growing into offensive identity

BOSTON — Before the Celtics won nine of their last 11 games to propel themselves up the Eastern Conference standings, they experienced growing pains.

Starting the season with a mostly brand-new group of players meant they had to learn how to play with one another. The early returns on Boston’s fresh roster were abysmal at best, as their shooting splits and offensive ratings were among the worst in the NBA.

It gradually faded away.

Since its two-point loss at Philadelphia on Nov. 10, the Celtics have increased their offensive net rating from 15th to the fifth-best mark in the NBA. It has helped them go from the depths of the conference to fifth-place, two spots above the NBA play-in tournament line.

The Celtics’ 126-105 win over the Lakers on Friday was the latest example of their offense appearing to settle into a rhythm that has yielded wins over some of the best teams in the NBA. It was also their ninth win in 11 games, which includes victories over the Detroit Pistons, Cleveland Cavaliers and New York Knicks.

Turns out, they just needed some time to fix their issues.

“When you have a bunch of guys figuring it out for the first time, of course you all expected to just sink right away, but we had five or six new players like we were all figuring it out," Jaylen Brown said. "I know you guys don't care about that, but we've been getting better every single day, and it's coming together a little bit now, but we've still got a lot of work to do.”

Head coach Joe Mazzulla has repeatedly challenged his veterans to help guide their new and younger teammates to the level of execution he demands. Recently it has been Jordan Walsh who has been the beneficiary of such actions, posting career-best performances on a nightly basis while becoming a mainstay in Mazzulla’s starting lineup.

Walsh finished Friday with 17 points on 6-of-7 shooting from the floor. His lone miss was a 3-pointer, which he finished with a career-high four makes on five attempts. He increased his recent hyper-efficient shooting split to an 18-of-19 mark from the field over his last three games, helping him average 15.0 points over that stretch and score a career-high 22 points at the Wizards Thursday.

“They had to learn together because it was something different, that it was a little bit different, especially playing with other guys,” Mazzulla said. “So I think those guys have done a good job communicating what those reads are supposed to look like. What the spacing is supposed to look like. Our player development staff does a good job. So it was on everyone because we were doing something a little bit different than we had been in the past.”

Not only are unproven players like Walsh are beginning to flash for the Celtics, but they’ve also received contributions from players who are exiting their early season slumps.

Derrick White, who opened 2025-26 as one of the worst 3-point shooters in the league, has increased his offensive output to help the Celtics string together wins. He has scored 20 points or more in three of his last five games, missing out on making it 4-of-5 games when he finished with 19 points Friday. White’s 3-point shooting has increased to 32.4%, which at one point was well below 30%. His increase can perhaps be attributed to his increase in assisted rate 3-pointers, which has been a crucial metric for his success throughout his career. Last season, 81 percent of his 3-pointers were assisted, according to Cleaning The Glass. In his nine NBA seasons, White has never had his 3-point assisted rate below 80 percent.

Until this season.

So far in 2025-26, White has been assisted on only 68% of his made 3-pointers. Over the Celtics' last 11 games, that mark has increased to 73%.

Mazzulla credited his team for finding White in the correct spot that leads to 3-pointers, citing White’s success on catch-and-shoot opportunities from deep. White made 2.5 of his 6.0 catch-and-shoot 3-pointers per game last season, ranking fourth in the NBA. Through the first three months of this season, White is down to 1.1 makes on 4.4 catch-and-shoot 3s.

White and Walsh are just a microcosm of the Celtics increase in shooting splits overall since October. They made only 44.4% — ranking 24th in the NBA — of their field goals between Opening Night and the game before their most recent nine wins over 11 games starting on Nov. 12. Their 3-point percentage was much lower, posting a 32.8% mark for the third-worst percentage. Since then, their field goal percentage skyrocketed to 50.6% and their 3-point percentage has increased to 41.1 percentage, each of which are third-best in the NBA over that stretch.

“We're definitely going through a stretch of shooting luck — that's for sure — that we weren't going through the beginning of the season,” Mazzulla said. “We're definitely shooting the ball better than we were. So that does make everything seem better, but I think you come into the season with an identity and a level of execution that you want to have, and then you learn more about your team.”

Boston’s nine wins in its last 11 games has yielded the second-highest winning percentage in the NBA, tied with the Houston Rockets and behind the perfect 10-0 Oklahoma City Thunder. It has shocked the NBA while placing it among the best in the league.

It seems like the new-look Celtics are outgrowing their early-season struggles, easing the pain and angst for their fans while providing reasoning for continued success.

“I think the expectation level has always been the same in my in my brain, just come out and compete and maximize our potential and kind of go from there,” Brown said. “Don't focus on the end result. Focus on what you control, that's in front of you. That's winning this possession, being the harder playing team, all that good stuff. Sounds boring, but that's the type of stuff that leads to building a really good team.”