With a full roster, with shooters on every wing and a big man standing firmly in the middle, Celtics coach Joe Mazzulla is prepared for the new defensive wrinkle his team is facing.
In the fourth quarter of the Celtics’ 2-point loss Monday to the Rockets at TD Garden, former Boston coach Ime Udoka decided to limit the offensive production of Jayson Tatum, who was coming off a 15-point third. So Udoka trapped Tatum, the team’s primary ballhandler with Derrick White out, to get the ball out of his hands and speed up the Celtics' offense.
It worked. The Celtics were ineffective after taking an early 12-point lead in the period and Udoka’s goal was to place pressure on Jaylen Brown and Jrue Holiday to shoot threes from the corners. They were a combined 2 for 11 in that period and the Rockets won.
Mazzulla was not daunted by Udoka’s move. What’s more, he encourages other teams to use the same method. The Bulls followed suit Wednesday at TD Garden by trapping Tatum to less success in Boston’s win. White was on the floor this time, as was Kristaps Porzingis, who was saddled with foul trouble against Houston.
“To me, it’s more about finding two-on-ones, you do it in different ways in a blitz,” Mazzulla said. “Our spacing got a little bit distorted because we were cutting at the wrong time. One time we hit a seam pass and Luke (Kornet) was late hitting (Neemias Queta). It’s really reading the two on one and it’s actually easier to see the two on one on a blitz. You have to maintain your spacing, make the right pass out of that, and execute your shot or dribble drive.”
Opposing teams are defending the Celtics differently this season and that was expected. Tatum is the engine that makes the offense work. Boston is a plus-7.8 when he is on the floor and a plus-1.2 when he’s on the bench. The last thing defenses want is a single-covered Tatum using his length and strength to get to the basket for layups and free throws.
Lately, however, Tatum has been bailing out defenses by settling for threes. Tatum desperately wants to be an elite 3-point shooter and he has his stretches when he is one. But in January, Tatum is 43 for 140 from the 3-point line for a 30.7 percentage that is below his career average (37.2).
Tatum has been trying to get going early in games from the 3-point line, realizing how much knocking down a couple of triples will open up the defense. But he hasn’t been hitting those early threes lately; hence his 23.4 points per game average this month.
Add to that those blitzes to get the ball out of his hands, and he faces a new challenge to remain an elite offensive player. Tatum is not a selfish player despite being a prolific scorer, and he’s very willing to play distributor and make the right basketball play when he faces two defenders.
Burning those blitzes will accomplished two things ― it will allow Tatum to eventually face single coverage and it will also give Brown, Porzingis, Holiday, and White more two-on-one opportunities when they are executed correctly.
The issue against Houston was the different personnel that struggled handling the blitzes. The hope is the presence of White and Porzingis will change that in Boston’s favor.
“We’re seeing that two-on-one and it’s easier to (score) against that instead of switching and we just have to work through it,” Mazzulla said.
When asked if he invites blitzes, Mazzulla said: “Yes, especially with the guys that we have. It gives us a two-on-one right away; we just have to execute it.”
Tatum went scoreless in the first half against Houston before responding with the big third within the flow of the game. His offensive discipline has increased over the years and he was especially versatile in last year’s NBA Finals when he led the Celtics in points, rebounds, and assists against the Mavericks.
“I just trust in the game, trust that I’ll keep making the right plays,” Tatum said about going stretches without scoring. “It will eventually open up.”
With White beginning to snap out of his slump, Porzingis shooting 50 percent from the 3-point line this month, and Brown, named to his fourth All-Star Team as a reserve Thursday, coming off consecutive 28-point games, the Celtics are showing signs of returning to form offensively.
Tatum doesn’t have to be always offensively elite, but it would help if he perhaps shifted his focus to getting to the rim and the free throw line, which would open up more of those 3-point opportunities he relishes. But it’s evident from the actions of Udoka and Chicago coach Billy Donovan that Tatum is still the nucleus of the Celtics' offense and opponents will place the onus on his teammates to figure out how to score consistently on those two-on-one situations.
Mazzulla is confident a healthy lineup will thrive in those situations and eliminate those blitzes, allowing Tatum more freedom to boost those January numbers.
Gary Washburn is a Globe columnist. He can be reached at gary.washburn@globe.com. Follow him @GwashburnGlobe.