The Celtics have a real free throw problem

If the Celtics lost tonight 27 points at home against the Rocketsanother gap marks the ghosts. It’s the one between the two teams on free throws as Kevin Durant’s partners hit 35 shots, compared to just 7 for Boston. How to explain such a difference?

“We already talked about this in the preseason. The free throw rate is often related to the turnover rate » Joe Mazzulla answers. “We committed 20 turnovers tonight, which is good. But we have to improve on the avoidable mistakes: the ones at the end of the quarter, the ones by the shooter or the ones due to an individual mistake on defense. There is always a correlation between fouls and turnovers. But offensively, we can draw more fouls and go to the line more often.”

The Celtics last in the NBA in free throws

With the fifth game in seven days, and a back-to-back meeting, the Celtics no longer had enough energy to attack the Rockets’ defense, and at the same time, fatigue led to defensive delays, resulting in fouls. It is a vicious circle, which can explain such a difference.

Fatigue or not, the fact remains that the Celtics were last in the NBA in free throws before the meeting with less than 20 tries, and that their seven tries will further weigh on their record. In addition, should Joe Mazzula integrate into his game plan the fact that the opponent will necessarily shoot ten or even twenty more free throws than his players?

“I don’t know if it’s the case in every match, but what we can control is our ratio between free throws made and turnovers.” he insists. “Forcing 20 turnovers is very good, but we have to do a better job of managing stupid mistakes: the ones by the shooter or when we break the defensive discipline… It’s clear that it wasn’t our night. The Rockets played very well — they’re a good team, they trained well and they were ready. That happens in the season. For me, it’s important now how we react in training, then on Monday »

It will be against the Jazz, the second match in a series of three in a row at home.