Paul George Is Bought In By Celtics Free-Flowing Offense

Heading into his 17th season and first with the Boston Celtics, Paul George was excited in the preseason about how involved he would be with the team’s offense.

George has spent years with an offense built around him, but now, as the second scoring option behind Jayson Tatum, he is embracing the challenge of being efficient without the same focus.

“It’s been a beautiful challenge, as I tell [Joe Mazzulla], of exploring how to be,” George said Monday before heading to Detroit with the team for Tuesday’s season opener. “I’ve been so used to, in my career, having the ball in my hands and the offense running through me, knowing where my spots will be.” 

The Celtics offense is free-flowing, using multiple ball handlers and spacing the floor for three-point shooting. The offense is designed for players to move and read the defense while setting up actions that lead to easy baskets for teammates.

George and his teammates won’t sit in the corner for a jump shot or a primary isolation play. George understands this will be an adjustment, but it is the style of basketball he’s wanted to play.

 “The beautiful thing within Joe’s offense is I could be anywhere, and there is, so to speak, no set play,” George said. “It’s kind of reading the game, thinking the game, and with such a high-IQ team, it’s been a fun challenge of how can I be myself? How can I find rhythm? How can I play at my pace, my speed, while being in different spots and figuring it out and learning what the defense is giving us.

“So it’s been fun. This is kind of how I always envisioned playing. So it’s just up to me to now try to figure it out.”

Celtics coach Joe Mazzulla wants George to be himself on the court and not assimilate into the team’s offensive philosophy; instead, he wants the team to work as a collective to maximize their new squad.

“You want a guy to be at his best,” Mazzulla said. “He can score at all three levels. He’s a great catch-and-shoot guy. He can handle in pick-and-roll. Obviously, his defensive creativity and his defensive instincts are great.

“Coming here, it’s not him having to adjust to us. It’s us working together to build this system and to be able to get the most out of it. We have to stay open-minded, he’s got to stay open-minded, and we just all work together.”

In the season opener against the Pistons, George scored the most points by a Celtics player in their regular-season debut, with 38 points, including seven made three-point shots, five rebounds, and three assists. Prior to the game, Mazzulla spoke about George’s defensive capabilities, against the Pistons, George proved him right by stealing the ball five times.

“He’s such a special guy to coach, so I look forward to continuing to build that relationship and push him to get more out of him,” Mazzulla said. “I think the positive is that there’s another level that he can get to as a player, and we take pride in trying to get that out of guys, and he’s taking pride in getting there as well.”