In the aftermath of the Celtics’ 122-112 loss to the Pacers, one glaring issue emerges from the box score – the turnover margin. Boston committed a staggering 18 turnovers while only forcing six.
Monday night marked the eighth occasion this season that the Celtics recorded at least 15 turnovers, extending their streak to a third consecutive game with 16 or more.
Boston’s 18 turnovers played into the hands of Indiana's offense, enabling them to get their offense jumpstarted in transition, which proved costly for the Celtics.
On the season, the Celtics have posted a 14.2% turnover percentage. Over their last five games, that number balloons up to 16.4%, which ranks 26th in the league over that span.
Struggling in the absence of Kristaps Porzingis, Boston’s offensive rating has dwindled to 116.7, good for ninth in the league, a dropoff head coach Joe Mazzulla correlates directly with the high turnover rate.
“Turnovers,” Mazzulla said when asked about the dip in the offensive production. “Sometimes the answer is right there, it’s just turning the ball over, which could come from a bunch of different things.”
On the other end, despite all the defensive talent, the Celtics rank 28th in the NBA in opponent turnover percentage, sitting at 12.2%. Boston has forced double-digit turnovers in just 10 of their 20 games.
A season ago, the Celtics struggled in this area, ranking 26th in opponent turnover percentage (12.6%), an area Mazzulla wanted to see his team improve in this season.
"Yeah, how’s that going?" Mazzulla joked on Wednesday.
“It’s something that you have to really, really commit to, consistently,” Boston’s bench boss explained when discussing the lack of turnovers his team forces.
“It’s a matter of what’s the DNA of our defensive identity versus what can we realistically be really good at over a long period of time?
Mazzulla added, “It’s something that we’re still working to do with some of our defensive adjustments. Obviously, you can always get better at the little things, your ball pressure, your active hands, try to get deflections, but we’ve cleaned up a lot of other areas that we haven’t been great at over the years like our offensive rebounding, our crashing and stuff. So, just really deciding is it the true DNA of our team, or is it more about can we get better at having some different adjustments that we can go to and be good at those?”
Offensive rebounding has become a key ingredient in that “DNA” Mazzulla mentioned, playing a key role in helping them control the shot margin despite the lack of turnovers.
This issue hasn't proven fatal for the Celtics this season, as they are 11-1 in games where they register more turnovers than their opponent. However, losing the turnover battle in any sport is typically not a good thing and will be something to monitor with this Celtics team, especially given how much this issue has plagued them in past postseason runs.
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