Advertisement

How dangerous can rim pressure make the Boston Celtics? 'As dangerous as we want it to be,' says Marcus Smart

The Boston Celtics blew out the Los Angeles Lakers 130 – 108 on their home court of TD Garden on Friday night with perhaps their best offensive game of the season, consistently attacking the basket in transition when possible, and on any opportunity that otherwise presented itself.

The Lakers are not a small team by any means with a perennial defensive player of the year candidate in Anthony Davis still a force to be reckoned with. But the Celtics managed to devise a plan to exploit Los Angeles’ weaknesses in the paint just the same. Asked how dangerous Boston can be when consistently attacking the basket as they did, Marcus Smart had an answer for the media after the game.

“As dangerous as we want it to be,” he explained.

He and Dennis Schroder in particular kept the Celtics afloat during an early Lakers onslaught with their aggressive attack on the opposing rim, and Smart was careful to note how much the German guard contributed to the win.

“Dennis has been a great addition to this team on that aspect of the floor,” he added. “Just being able to create for others and allow me to create for a few others as well. We’re rolling like that. It gives that extra energy for everybody else to get into their own game and get into a rhythm.”

“I think we saw that tonight, especially with Jayson (Tatum),” added the Flower mound native. “We’re very proud of him.”

Schroder agreed that the Celtics were at their best against L.A. Friday when they pressured the Lakers.

“I think with them, when you get the rebound, you get a stop, you’ve just got to run and then put pressure on the rim early, try to attack. I think they’re pretty big, long … but I think you can put pressure on the rim, so that’s what we did.”

“(Tatum) at the end in the fourth quarter, he did a great job finding guys and putting pressure on the rim to score by himself, it was great to see.

This team seems to be being rebuilt from the ground up under new head coach Ime Udoka, with defense the first order of business as one might expect from a coach with his resume.

Friday, we got our first real look at what an Ime Udoka-led Celtics offense might look like in contrast to seasons past. And truth be told, the aggressive style of play emphasizing pressure on the cup might well be the change this team has been lacking.

This post originally appeared on Celtics Wire. Follow us on Facebook!

Follow all of your favorite New England teams at Celtics Wire and Patriots Wire!

More .Interviews