If there was one word to describe the opening week of Celtics training camp, it would be “fast.”
Players up and down the roster – from locked-in starters to deep reserves – have talked about how Boston’s plan to push the pace this season is showing up on the practice court. Camp sessions have been high-energy and exhausting, with assistant coach Sam Cassell saying this has been the hardest training camp he’s seen in his 34 years in the NBA.
Fast, though, should not be confused with finesse. One look at Payton Pritchard on Saturday was proof of that.
Pritchard sported a large and prominent scratch on his neck as he addressed reporters after the Celtics’ fourth official practice – the result, he said, of a particularly physical workout the previous day.
“It’s been very physical,” the sixth-year guard said. “It’s definitely been a war out there. I am tired, but it’s good to push the body to these limits to get ready for the season. Definitely pushing ourselves.”
Pushing, and preparing. Pritchard said the new-look Celtics, in addition to adopting a quicker tempo offensively, play to play with more aggression on the defensive end this season. He pointed to the success the NBA champion Oklahoma City Thunder had with that approach in 2024-25.
“When you see OKC and them win the championship, they got away with a lot of hands, fouls, a lot of physicality. Stuff like that,” he said. “The NBA, I feel like, in the playoffs is allowing a lot more physicality now. But you’ve got to learn how to play through it and be more physical. We’re emphasizing it. It’s been good.”
Previous Joe Mazzulla-coached Celtics teams prioritized defending responsibly and keeping opponents off the foul line. In each of the last two seasons, Boston committed the second-fewest fouls in the NBA and allowed the fewest opponent free-throw attempts. The trade-off was that it didn’t force many turnovers, ranking bottom-five in the league in that category in each of Mazzulla’s first three campaigns (27th last season).
OKC, meanwhile, committed the sixth-most fouls and allowed the fourth-most opponent free-throw attempts, but it was by far the most effective team at creating turnovers, leading the NBA in that metric and in steals.
Asked about the Thunder’s willingness to foul, Pritchard replied: “Yeah, for sure. We’ve got to have that.”
“I mean, you get six fouls, but it’s just a different emphasis,” he said. “Like, before, we were playing more of a safe defense of switching, live with contested shots, don’t foul, don’t put people to the free-throw line. But that’s kind of changed. The NBA evolves every year, so you’ve got to change your game with it. It worked for us when we won the championship, didn’t work for us as much last year. So we’ve got to evolve.”
Mazzulla also mentioned that evolution, pointing to a notable shift in officiating midway through last season. The Celtics, he said, need to adjust their defensive philosophy to account for that change.
“I think halfway through last year, the league made a little bit of a change where the game became much more physical,” Mazzulla said. “I think it’s what’s best for the league, and we just have to adapt to that. I think the game is in a great place as far as how it’s being officiated, how it’s being called, how it’s being played. That’s one of the things we have to continue to improve on, is our continued physicality, regardless of if it’s regular season or playoffs.
There’s a limit to that aggressiveness, of course – a necessary balance to strike between productive ball-hawking and committing cheap fouls that lead to easy points.
“I think everything’s just situational, right?” Mazzulla added. “I think it just kind of depends on time, score, bonus, not bonus, quarters one through three versus quarter four. Are you winning? Are you not winning? I think there’s just so much of that. But at the same time, we want to develop a mindset of being a little bit more physical. And again, if there’s an upside to those potential fouls, then that’s good. If there’s not an upside to them, then you have to correct it.”
The group of players tasked with executing Mazzulla’s new vision is younger and more athletic than the rosters Boston fielded in recent years, but far less experienced and accomplished.
The Celtics swapped out veterans Jrue Holiday, Kristaps Porzingis, Al Horford and Luke Kornet for newcomers Anfernee Simons, Luka Garza, Josh Minott, Chris Boucher and Hugo Gonzalez this offseason. They’ll also be without Jayson Tatum for the foreseeable future while he recovers from Achilles surgery.
Holiday is a six-time All-Defensive selection. Porzingis is a top-tier rim protector. Tatum is both Boston’s best offensive player and one of its most talented and versatile defenders. Those are big shoes to fill for this revamped Celtics squad, which features just four healthy rotation holdovers (Jaylen Brown, Derrick White, Sam Hauser and Pritchard).
“Right now, we’re just trying to emphasize pace and physicality,” Pritchard said.
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