After a week devoted to rest, recalibration, and reflection, the Boston Celtics returned to the hardwood with sharpened focus and renewed intent.
They secured their 36th victory of the season with a 121–110 victory over the Golden State Warriors. Boston controlled the tempo for much of the contest, executing on both ends with discipline and purpose. However, a blistering 15–0 surge by Golden State in the opening three minutes of the fourth quarter injected late drama into an otherwise steady performance.
Rather than unravel, the Celtics steadied themselves. They absorbed the momentum shift, reasserted control, and answered with composure — a poised response that ultimately sealed the victory and underscored their maturity in such situations.
Beyond the final margin, what stood out most was the orchestration on the offensive end. Boston’s attack was fluid, deliberate, and unselfish, a reflection of a team fully in sync in the face of adversity. The result was a season-high 36 assists, a striking testament to their connectivity and collective trust. Possession after possession, the extra pass wasn’t just available; it was instinctive.
When asked about the 36 assists on 49 made field goals, head coach Joe Mazzulla emphasized the intentionality behind the performance. “I thought for majority of the game, we managed the game with our ability to execute, you know get a shot every possession find a two-on-one, have great spacing, great screening.”
That cohesion was evident in real time, but upon a second viewing, the layers became even more apparent.
Here are the plays that stood out to me.
The first offensive possession of the game for Boston was a great one that reminded me of old times.
Play starts off with a mini “Zipper” cut to get Derrick White to the top of the key. I say mini because the cutter usually starts all the way down near the post then Zipper’s all the way up to the top off a pin down.
Boston has shortened it in the past; I assume for quickness purposes.
When White gets the ball at the top, you’ll essentially see the Celtics having action on both sides in 5 out spacing as both Baylor Scheierman and Neemias Queta set “Flare” screens. Flare screens = an off-ball screen in between the passer and the recipient.
This resembles “Delay” action which happens when a big has the ball at the top of the key and both sides set Flares or pin downs to get things open. But this particular play with Flares on both sides was ran a ton in 2022.
On the current one, Scheierman slips his Flare screen and Queta holds his.
Queta holding his forces Draymond Green to stay back a tick longer just in case White threw the pass to Jaylen Brown. This allows Queta to run into the screen freely. Right before Queta screens, you can hear Green yell “Ice!” to the on-ball defender.
Ice in pick and roll coverage means shading your body toward the screener, so the handler can’t use it. This is why you see Green on the right side of Queta because if the defender would’ve done it correctly, White would dribble towards Green.
But it doesn’t and White ends up using the screen forcing Green to go to the other side and pick him up. A great screen and that pick up, leaves Queta open on the roll and he gets fouled.
Here we have more pick and roll play from the Celtics.
The term “Mazzulla Ball” is classified as creating and taking advantage of two-on-one and three-on-two situations. With great screening, which Mazzulla noted postgame, the team is able to create both on one play.
The Celtics force two on the ball when Queta’s screen knocks the defender off, and Green has to pick up White once again.
This in turn creates multiple two-on-ones or a big three-on-two on the lower half of the court.
White does a great job staying patient and waiting for the corner defender on the right side to make a decision. Queta gets deeper than the corner man and the pass leads to a dunk.
Once again, the Celtics create an advantage through screening.
As Nikola Vucevic sets the screen, former Celtic Al Horford plays to the level and ends up crowding Brown making sure he can’t penetrate the defense further. This gets two on the ball.
Doing that once again gives us the same multiple two-on-ones and three-on-two look they got last play.
In this situation, whichever corner defender the big rolls closer to is who the passer will read. The last play was on the right side and on this one it’s the left. Moses Moody (defender in the corner) comes all the way into the paint to disincentivize the pass to Vucevic which leaves Jordan Walsh wide open in the corner and Brown finds him.
That was one of Brown’s career high 13 assists in this game. He stuffed the stat sheet in last night’s contest, putting up 23 points and 15 rebounds to go along with the passing. When asked about his all-around performance postgame, Mazzulla remarked, “JB just had a clear understanding of what the advantage was every time down the floor,” highlighting his keen awareness and ability to read the game in real time.
Continuing with the plays, here the Celtics get two on the ball in a different way.
White sets the back screen for Vucevic then gets to the top of the key. He then calls for Payton Pritchard to set the Ghost screen, which causes some confusion defensively.
This creates a three-on-two on the left side for a second.
What’s crucial on this is the cut by Sam Hauser. As I just noted, the advantage created by the Ghost screen is fleeting, so the team must execute after it perfectly to fully capitalize on it. When he sees Pritchard coming to the wing, he immediately cuts.
He does this because he knows his defender will step up to a wide-open Pritchard on the wing. The cut also draws the attention of Kristaps Porzingis away from his man who is Vucevic in the corner. Pritchard sees Porzingis trying to reach Hauser and hits Vuc in the corner.
Next, we have dribble penetration creating the advantages.
As the Celtics attempt to go to another pick and roll, the on-ball defender correctly Ices the screen this time making White reject it. White sees this and smartly proceeds to drive drawing Porzingis closer to him and away from Vuc.
This causes a longer closeout for the big man and Vuc shows his versatility pump faking and driving past him. White’s defender sees this and stops the drive and behind him, Green picks up his. The thing is in doing so Green completely leaves the corner and thus the two-on-one.
Vuc makes a phenomenal read and gets rewarded with the hockey assist.
This set didn’t result in points (looked like a goal tend) but it was my favorite one of the game.
Here the Celtics go to Horns Out Ram. “Horns Out” is a type of entry that is made up of two things. First, the play starts in “Horns” alignment which can be easily identified by seeing two players at or near the elbows of the free throw line.
The “Out” part is an Out cut which is when someone cuts out to either wing with a screen. The Celtics also use these out cuts in “Stack Out” entry plays. I don’t like to assume, but I’m going to say maybe Brown running over Queta wasn’t apart of action.
Next, the “Ram” part is named after a Ram screen which is an off-ball screen set for someone to go set a ball screen.
Queta sets the screen for Brown after the screen from White, and two gets put on the ball again. Brown gets it to White and he makes a great touch pass into Queta who has good position.
Brown starts it all for the green team on this one.
Him touching the paint draws three Warrior defenders to him and creates a three-on-two situation.
All that’s left now is to play Celtics basketball and whip the rock to the open man.
Early in the second half, the Celtics run “Horns Stagger Slip”.
Stagger screens are two of the same off-ball screens with space in between them.
Hauser is the first one, so he sets that but watch the IQ of White as the second screener. As he’s preparing to set the screen, he feels that his defender is leaving his body. The moment his arm is let go he slips wide open for the layup.
Brown creates more offense for the C’s here with incredible pace.
After the missed free throw, we see him jet to the block where Horford comes to double. He wastes no time getting the ball out of his hands, which helps the Celtics play four-on-three. Another wrinkle that helps Boston on this play is Porzingis not wanting to close out on Pritchard and telling his teammate to.
Play most likely ends up the same way honestly, but this creates a longer closeout and gives the Celtics an extra tick of time. Pritchard attacking the closeout and touching the paint creates a two-on-one in the corner.
Hugo Gonzalez and Ron Harper Jr play hot potato for a second which leads to Gonzalez attacking a closeout himself and displaying some intriguing self-creation.
For the second to last play, you can hear Mazzulla call out another beautiful Horns set. I can’t quite make out what he said after Horns, so any theories are welcomed.
Pritchard enters it into Vuc in the pinch post, and Harper Jr sets a “Rip” screen for Pritchard.
He gets a nice release angle on the dive, but Vuc couldn’t get it to him. Pritchard uses that Rip screen to go set a pin down for Brown.
As Brown curls off the screen, his defender is forced to chase over and ends up behind him. This forces Pritchard’s defender to help on Brown and make sure he doesn’t get an easy layup. But now nobody is on catch and shoot P.
Last but not least, we just have great recognition by Mazzulla. As Pritchard is isolated vs Horford, he yells “Switch! Hugo!” so that Brown can be the guy that’s one pass away. This is done so the better offensive player can be the closest outlet to the driver if they cannot score whether it’s catch and shoot or driving. Pritchard gets it to Brown, and he finishes around his old buddy Porzingis.
Ultimately, Boston’s victory over Golden State was more than just another notch in the win column; it was a showcase of precision, teamwork, and basketball IQ. From the fluid ball movement that produced a season-high 36 assists, to the savvy cuts, screens, and reads that define “Mazzulla Ball,” the Celtics displayed an offense that is both disciplined and dynamic.
