After beating the Chicago Bulls on Friday night, the Boston Celtics are 4-1 on the young season.

However, it's fair to note that they haven't been overly tested yet, having already played the rebuilding Bulls twice and the Brooklyn Nets once. They lost to the Detroit Pistons, expected to be very good, but were able to beat the defending champion New York Knicks 107-103.

But still, in the wake of trading Jaylen Brown to the Philadelphia 76ers, it's been an excellent start to the season for Joe Mazzulla's team. A lot of the attention has been focused on the offensive ability of Jayson Tatum and the work of new teammate Paul George, but we should not ignore the impact of the defense on the early success.

As noted by Justin Turpin of WEEI in Boston, the Celtics are averaging five more deflections per game than a year ago, two steals more and are forcing six turnovers more. The 92 forced turnovers are the most over any five-game stretch since Mazzulla became head coach.

Early on Saturday, we noted that the one problem spot for the Celtics so far has been in the rebounding department. Well, being better on defense and limiting the number of shots the other team gets is certainly one way to mitigate any issues on the glass.

Well, you can't ignore that the C's have played three games against teams expected to finish near the bottom of the Eastern Conference. But you also can't ignore the impact of bringing Jordan Walsh into the starting lineup, the impact of Mitchell Robinson in the paint, and the presence of George.

While he's 36 years old now, George has been regarded as a solid defender for years. He's a four-time All-Defensive team member as well as a steals champion (2018-19). And even if he's not making the play directly, he has a solid idea of how to work on defense and can pass that onto his teammates.

The Celtics won't take the floor again until Sunday, when they'll take on the Orlando Magic in Orlando. The Magic are 2-3 in the early going and are playing without top player Paolo Banchero, who is out with an ankle injury. Jalen Suggs is also out, however, Orlando did find a way to beat the Toronto Raptors on Friday.