Celtics already winning the math game in Nuggets preseason games

61 threes.

The Celtics shot two more than they ever had in a regular season game on Friday. Rather than just blindly testing the limits of Joe Mazzulla’s volume shooting philosophy, the barrage happened within the flow of the game. Boston hauled in 17 offensive rebounds, kicked them out and added more shooting opportunities by forcing 23 Denver turnovers in the opener.

Two days later, a similar result followed. The Celtics attempted only 47 on Sunday at a 38.3% rate. The Nuggets narrowed the battle on the offensive boards, which ended tied 24-24 through two games, while the turnover battle went 24-43 in Boston’s favor. A close attention to those details reinforced the Celtics’ talent advantage over the field on their way to a championship in June. Nearly four months later, it powered preseason wins.

“We were up seven at halftime,” Mazzulla said after Sunday’s win. “But we were losing the shot margin and we gave them like 18 more free throws than we had.”

The Celtics didn’t dominate the margins Mazzulla has mentioned since ascending to the head coaching seat. The Nuggets dominated Boston in free throw attempts, 53-29, for a 14-point advantage across two games. But the Celtics’ 54-point edge through threes far outsized that. That’s the biggest reason Mazzulla prioritized the three to begin his tenure.

Only 32.8% of the Celtics’ three-point attempts went through on Friday, but an aggressive effort on the offensive glass counteracted the misses, all while managing the defensive glass with Kristaps Porziņģis and Al Horford out. Boston reduced its own turnovers down to eight on Sunday, which allowed them to run the score up when the Nuggets gave the ball away.

It’s less threes, threes, threes, and more possessions, possessions, possessions. Mazzulla, who thrived flipping out-of-bounds calls with challenges last year, even tried to take advantage of a new rule that can reverse out-of-bounds calls into fouls on the other team in the first game. That attempt proved unsuccessful.

The Celtics built their approach, in part, to beat an efficient shooting team like Denver that they can’t reliably defeat with the inside game or even talent alone. Two losses to the Nuggets last year saw Boston only average 90 shots and 41 threes while Denver shot over 50% from the field in both. They pressure the rim, force you to double and cross-match you in transition, leading to some rebounding trouble for the Celtics in spots.

Increasing the shot margin worked to counteract all that across this weekend’s exhibition, albeit in a preseason setting, while integrating younger and less experienced players. It’s a difficult matchup, stylistically, for the Celtics and one that ultimately forced them to play the number’s game to win.

“I think Denver put us in some tough situations,” Mazzulla said. “And exposed some things that we can work on the rest of preseason, because of their personnel and the type of tactics that they have. They’re constantly testing you. It was really good to get that on film.”

Another glaring number beyond the analytics also stood out from across the world. The Celtics had more good players than Denver, perhaps many more. Julian Strawther played well and Christian Braun slid comfortably into the starting unit. Russell Westbrook intrigued playing off the bench and next to Nikola Jokić in his Friday appearance.

Yet Boston hit them in waves, winning 135-110 in bench points. Payton Pritchard pulled the Celtics away with 21 in the first game, Sam Hauser hit his threes on Sunday and Luke Kornet started both games, playing solid minutes opposite of Jokić as Boston’s third center option. Even Xavier Tillman Sr., the team’s fourth option inside, provided valuable minutes.

Jordan Walsh, stepping up from Maine, played well. Jaden Springer, who made few appearances last year, contributed some decent moments. JD Davison arguably flipped Friday’s result with his closing effort. The 10-man rotation that Denver courted on Sunday didn’t post a single positive +/-.

This is only the starting point. That ball movement (62 AST on 84 FG, 73.8%), that attention to detail and that bench contribution could all grow even more. They almost inevitably will beyond preseason intensity with minimal playing time for the starters. Jaylen Brown stressed becoming the smarter team last season, and the weekend’s execution looked like a team that graduated. That’s not to affirm their supremacy over the field or the inevitability that they’ll repeat. It’s a small sample, but one that looked quite a bit like last year already.

“Any chance we can get an extra possession or steal a possession, we gotta take advantage of it,” Derrick White said of his own offensive rebounding. “I watched Payton have a lot of success last year with it, so I thought I would try it.”