Four games and 192 total minutes of basketball isn't enough to make a comprehensive statement about this new Boston Celtics team.
But there are some early-season numbers that caught our attention. Here are four of them:
1. Lean and average screening machine
Neemias Queta's impact extends far beyond basic scoring output. An NBA busyness metric backs this up.
The 7-foot Queta was promoted to the starting lineup after Boston overhauled its frontcourt, and he's on track to set the team's record for screen assists per game. More importantly, the Celtics lead the entire NBA in screen assists this season with 25 points per game, while Boston ranks second behind the Denver Nuggets in screen assists at 10.3 points per game.
Queta had 14 points on six screen assists Monday night in New Orleans. The NBA defines a screen assist as any screen that screens a teammate that directly results in that teammate's field goal. Whether covering in pick-and-rolls or covering shooters on the wing, Queta's screens are crucial to Boston's offensive output.
In limited bench time last season, Queta averaged 2.3 screen assists per game, tied with Luke Kornet. He's averaging 4.5 screen assists this season, nearly double that number, which would be the most by a Celtics player since the league started tracking screen assists a decade ago.
2. Pritchard knocks the ball in and thrives inside the three-point line
Payton Pritchard ranks second on the Celtics in digs with 10 per game. He shot 73.3% on drives and averaged 7.5 points per game, ranking just outside the top 30 in the NBA.
Although Pritchard struggled with his long-range shooting early in the season, he excelled when he ventured inside the arc. Pritchard has been one of the NBA's best finishers at the rim in recent years, hitting 10 of 13 attempts from the short and mid-range (4-14 feet) and 12 of 18 on all mid-range attempts this season. According to Cleaning the Glass, this ranks first among all point guards in both shooting areas.
Even with his increased touches in a starting role, Pritchard is still taking care of the basketball, finding creative ways to score, getting others involved and consistently attacking the offensive glass. Now he just needs the familiar three-point shot to get used to it.
In the 138 minutes that Pritchard played, the Celtics' offensive efficiency was still as high as 117.4, the highest in the team. Boston outscore opponents by 7.8 points per 100 possessions with Pritchard on the court.
3. Half-court defense It’s on point; just needs to bounce back
The Celtics have the best half-court defense in the NBA, allowing just 83 points per 100 possessions, according to Clean the Glass. The problem was they allowed all the offensive rebounds without finishing the possession.
The Celtics allow 30 points per 100 missed shots, which ranks 28th in the NBA. For context, the Celtics allowed just 18.3 points per 100 missed shots last season, second in the league.
The Celtics have actually surpassed the Pelicans after Monday night and now rank 29th in defensive rebounding rate. They still have a long way to go to fix their issues on the glass, but if the team can shore up the defensive glass, they have the potential to be a top-five defense.
Even with all the extra possessions, the Celtics are tied for ninth in the NBA in defensive rating at 111.7.
4. Brown’s two-way influence
Even as he battled a hamstring injury to start the season, Jaylen Brown put in work on both sides of the basketball.
According to NBA Defensive Tracking data, Brown has limited opponents to 32 percent shooting while defending 12.5 shot attempts per game, ranking third among all players who have defended at least 10 or more shots.
Brown held opponents' output to 10.5% below expected output on those shots.
Brown has not been shy about expressing his desire to be on the All-Defensive team, especially given the abilities of the players he regularly defends. Here's a look at his performance in his most frequent games so far this season:
The two players who lead the Browns in defensive field goal percentage? Victor Wembanyama and teammate Anfernee Simons.
The eye test confirmed that both Brown and Simmons benefited from their opponents' three-point shooting errors – opponents shot 22.2% from three-point range against Brown and 25% against Simmons. Simmons works harder than we saw in Portland to bring defensive energy.
What we're interested in is how these defensive numbers trend over a larger sample. That's an encouraging start considering opponents shot 50.5% overall last season (4.4% above expected output), and Simmons ranked 153rd among 156 players who defended 10 or more shots in 40 or more games.