Luka Garza was still sweating about a half-hour after the Celtics concluded their first practice of the season Tuesday, also his first with the team.
“We were moving out there today, but it was a lot of fun,” Garza said. “The intensity was high, competition level was high. I love practicing like that. Super-intense, super-fiery, and the pace was crazy high, for sure. It was definitely tiring, but it was good. It’s going to help us.”
Garza was reiterating a theme that developed as training camp approached. The Celtics, who underwent a roster overhaul over the summer and do not know when injured forward Jayson Tatum will rejoin them, intend to play fast this season. And Tuesday’s session affirmed that to the players.
“I could tell since I got here that that’s the focus this year, that what we want to do is get up and down and push the pace and get into actions early and be able to move the ball around and score and kind of use all sides of the floor while doing that,” Garza said. “I think Coach said today that we’re not just going to play like that, we’re going to practice like that. So, that was evident from the structure of the practice.”
During media day Monday, third-year wing Jordan Walsh revealed another layer of this new level of on-court urgency. He said that in the past, the Celtics tended to stand and watch Tatum and Jaylen Brown operate in isolation. He said coach Joe Mazzulla told him he envisions hockey-style line changes in which a group of five players play relentlessly for four or five minutes before being replaced by a new five.
When Mazzulla was asked three questions related to Walsh’s comments Tuesday, he answered the first two before essentially shutting down the third.
“I’m not going to lie to you, Jordan just said that to mess with you guys,” Mazzulla said. “We’re not doing that. I know you guys need the headline, but that’s not happening, so don’t worry about that.”
Of course, Mazzulla also might have just been extinguishing Walsh’s seemingly honest admission for strategic purposes. There was plenty of other evidence that the Celtics are ready to move.
“This is a different vibe of training camp with younger guys than before, so we got after it,” center Xavier Tillman said. “Running around a lot, coaches screaming. You’re kind of just turning your head, getting to the next spot, but it was fun. It was good.”
So, what does that look like?
“Think of a NASCAR pit stop where you just don’t stop moving, right?” Tillman said. “And it’s just like as soon as you go in, the guys exchange, exchange, and we’re out. That’s what it is.”
Last season, the Celtics ranked 29th in the NBA in pace, averaging just 96.59 possessions per game. This can be an inexact metric, with long, intense defensive possessions lowering the figure.
But the Celtics also had isolation-heavy players in Tatum and Brown, and frequently used double-big lineups featuring combinations involving Kristaps Porzingis, Al Horford, and Luke Kornet. All three big men are gone.
“I think every year you’ve got to make little adjustments, change what you see with what worked, what didn’t work last year,” guard Derrick White said. “I think we’re going to play faster, get out and run. We’ve got a lot of guys that like to play fast and like to get out in transition, so try to get out and run.”
Mazzulla and the Celtics stressed that playing fast does not mean just running up and down the court at top speed, however. It is more of an approach to execution. It is showing urgency.
“It’s playing fast and playing smart at the same time and seeing the action,” Garza said. “It’s not just chuck it and shoot it with 20 seconds on the shot clock. It’s trying to get into actions early so we can get looks early, and if it’s not there you go to the second or third action. It’s just everything you do is with a fast pace. You see a lot of teams that get the ball and walk it up. I’ve been on teams like that before, and that’s not what we’re trying to do.”
Adam Himmelsbach can be reached at adam.himmelsbach@globe.com. Follow him @adamhimmelsbach.