Malcolm Brogdon: Celtics’ Defensive Identity has Slipped Away

Malcolm Brogdon: Celtics’ Defensive Identity has Slipped Away

After being arguably the best team in the NBA this season, the Boston Celtics find themselves in a 3-0 hole against the Miami Heat in the Eastern Conference Finals. Part of this blunder comes from Boston’s defensive identity against Miami. However, Celtics guard Malcolm Brogdon said the team’s defensive issues started well before the conference finals.

“I think it’s teams that have a strong identity,” Brogdon told ESPN. “I think Miami is one of the teams, one of the few teams in the league — Miami, Denver, there are only a few of them — that have a really strong identity, and they play by it every single night. They’re super committed to it.

“And, for us, our identity has waned all year long. We’ve been trying to figure out who we are, because I think we’re such a great, talented scoring team, but when we don’t make shots, we got to rely on our defense, and our defense isn’t consistent every night.“

Besides the glaring 3-0 deficit, the Celtics’ defensive identity struggles also prompt questions about the team’s coaching. After Ime Udoka resigned prior to the 2022-23 season, the Celtics named Joe Mazzulla their head coach. Udoka had fostered one of the best defensive units of all time, while the team’s defensive identity has been mired by inconsistencies under Mazzulla, according to Brogdon.

“We haven’t been consistently great defensively all year long, and that was the team’s identity last year,” Brogdon said. “I think that’s slipped away from us. We’ve had spurts where we’ve been great defensively, but not consistently.“

Is Mazzulla the problem? Well, not entirely. But Mazzulla has had his fair share of head-scratching decisions all year long.

Mazzulla may be a part of the problem, but he is not the entire reason behind the Celtics’ downfall. Plus, being down 3-0 is no easy task to overcome. Can Mazzulla, Brogdon and the rest of the Celtics make an improbable comeback, starting with a potential Game 4 win Tuesday? Who knows.

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