Celtics’ Jaylen Brown Sends Strong Message After Defeat To Sixers
The Boston Celtics‘ opening game of the season ended in a 117-116 defeat at the hands of the Philadelphia 76ers. A 16-point third-quarter run had the TD Garden rocking; unfortunately, Joe Mazzulla’s team was too inexperienced to close the game out.
When speaking to the media after the game, Jaylen Brown admitted that he and his teammates needed to be better on the defensive side of the floor and that they may have been too focused on the offensive end.
“We let (Tyrese) Maxey get going,” Brown said. “We’ve got to a better job, especially with one of the better players on the floor. There’s gotta be more attention to detail. We can’t be letting him play free…I don’t know if we were too focused on the offensive end, but we can’t just let guys come in here and do what they want.”
Both Maxey and VJ Edgecombe found success against Boston’s offense. They penetrated at will and combined for 74 points. The Celtics will need to be far better at the point of attack as the season progresses. Otherwise, opposing teams will lean on their guards to carve the Celtics open in the half-court.
Celtics’ Mazzulla Issues Challenge To Xavier Tillman
Xavier Tillman saw 15 minutes of playing time off the Celtics bench on Wednesday, Oct. 22. He thrived as a hustle player, injecting life and urgency into the rotation. However, Tillman struggled to generate any offense for the Celtics, shooting 2-of-8 from the field and going 0-of-3 from deep.
When speaking at his postgame news conference, Mazzulla shared a challenge for Tillman, noting how he should be willing to let shots go when he’s open.
“When he’s open, he’s just got to have the confidence to continue to shoot it,” Mazzulla said.
Tillman will likely have a sizeable role to play this season. His presence in the rotation gives the Celtics a different dynamic on the defensive end. When Tillman is on the court, Mazzulla can have his team switch every pick-and-roll, thus increasing the pressure on the perimeter.
The trade-off, of course, is that Tillman lacks the size to be effective down the middle of the floor, and therefore, the Celtics’ defensive rebounding can suffer.
The Celtics Face The New York Knicks On Friday
Mazzulla’s roster can’t afford to get too caught up in their opening night loss. They will face Eastern Conference powerhouse, the New York Knicks, on Friday, Oct. 25. The matchup will be a repeat of the Eastern Conference semifinals, a series that saw the Celtics eliminated from the playoffs last season.
The Celtics have already announced that Luka Garza, who suffered a concussion against the Sixers, will not be a participant against New York. And, of course, Jayson Tatum is also on the injury report.
Nevertheless, Mazzulla’s team will undoubtedly feel like they have a point to prove as they head into the game. Beating the Knicks, even this early in the season, would undoubtedly appease the fanbase, while also sending the message that the Celtics aren’t as poor a team as some expect. Of course, beating the Knicks certainly won’t be easy. After all, they’re the favorites to come out of the Eastern Conference for a reason.
Still, at this early juncture of the season, anything can happen, and that includes a Celtics win.
Lions Lose Veteran Linebacker Immediately After He Returns From Injury
The Detroit Lions waited three weeks to get veteran linebacker Zach Cunningham back after a serious injury, but now he will be gone for at least a month — and potentially the entire season.
The team placed Cunningham on injured reserve after suffering a hamstring injury in last week’s win over the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. Cunningham had just returned from a three-week absence for another hamstring injury, and the latest development will put his season in doubt.
Lions Lose Key Depth
Cunningham had been knocked out of last weekend’s 24-9 win over the conference-leading Buccaneers, ruled out to return with a hamstring injury. As Jeff Risdon of USA Today’s Lions Wire noted, the injury will take a key special teams and situational defender from the roster.
“There is no indication if Cunningham, who plays primarily on special teams but has also worked in short-yardage and red zone packages throughout the season, will be able to return in 2025,” Risdon wrote. “The Lions facility is closed to and staff are off until next week. For the year, the 30-year-old has seven tackles and one TFL.”
Cunningham came to the Lions as a free agent this offseason, adding a veteran presence to the linebacking corps. The 30-year-old has appeared in 106 games with 86 starts in his career, making 716 total tackles.
He had a light role in Detroit this season, appearing in four games with seven total tackles.
Backups Come Through in the Secondary
The Lions have already taken a number of hits to their defense, especially in the secondary where the team has already lost several cornerbacks to injury and had safety Brian Branch serve a one-game suspension for sparking a skirmish at the end of the team’s loss to the Kansas City Chiefs.
The team utilized what head coach Dan Campbell called its “Who?” secondary against the Buccaneers, holding the dangerous offense to just nine points.
“I knew we were going to challenge them and do more than we did last week,” Campbell said, via The Associated Press. “But that’s a good quarterback over there, and they’ve been playing good football. I had confidence, but nine points?”
The Lions relied heavily on reserves Rock Ya-Sin, Nick Whiteside, Arthur Maulet, Erick Hallett, and Thomas Harper against the Buccaneers. NFL.com reporter Kevin Patra noted that the collection of backups played “with their hair on fire” against the Buccaneers, taking an aggressive approach that left quarterback Baker Mayfield befuddled.
Campbell said he called on the group to take on an aggressive approach and they delivered, not getting overcome by the challenge of facing one of the NFL’s top teams in primetime.
“That’s what’s expected here,” Campbell said. “I’ve said it before, you get in there, you don’t have to be perfect, you just challenge and you compete, and we will help you and the guys around you will help you.
“I love the fact the game didn’t seem too big for those guys. That was Harper’s and Hallett’s first start. I thought it wasn’t too big for them. They got in there and competed and that’s a great sign.”
