Celtics looking like a different team
Win streak has them surging in standings
All of a sudden, the Boston Celtics look like the team most people expected them to look like this season.
Of course, the sample size of the C’s being head-scratchingly inconsistent in the 2020-21 campaign far outweighs the sample size of them looking like a toptier team in the Eastern Conference. But it’s April, and the Celts are currently riding a five-game win streak and playing their best ball with the playoffs just a month away.
This is the time to be moving in the right direction, and the Celtics are doing just that. In the last nine days, the Green Team has gone from being No. 8 in the East and in danger of missing the playoffs to a tie for the No. 4 spot at 30-26.
The reasons for the surge are easy to pin-point: offensive balance, ball movement and health.
During the first few months of this season, the Celtics’ offense was often stagnant and predictable. They continuously fell into a trap where young stars Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown played my-turn basketball, while teammates largely stood and
watched.
Tatum and Brown piled up big numbers, but the Celtics failed to pile up victories. It never seemed like an effort issue with the C’s, it just seemed like a misguided and flawed method of trying to win games, which could be expected when your best players are 23 and 24.
In April, things have changed for the better. Perhaps the Celtics have figured things out.
The C’s have gone 7-1 in the month, entering tonight’s game at TD Garden against the Golden State Warriors and red-hot guard Steph Curry.
The Celtics just swept a tough three-game road trip against Western Conference powers — the Denver Nuggets, Portland Trail Blazers and Los Angeles Lakers. In all three of those contests, all five starters scored in doublefigures.
The C’s also averaged 27.7 assists in those three wins. During the fivegame win streak, they’ve been whipping the ball around, getting everyone on the floor touches to keep them involved. Players have been moving without the ball and cutting hard to the hoop.
When players are involved on the offensive end, they tend to also be more engaged on the defensive end. And oftentimes, good defense leads to easy offense.
Twice during the win streak, the C’s held opponents (New York Knicks and Nuggets) under 100 points. That’s an impressive accomplishment in the modern NBA, where the Knicks hold opponents to a league-best 104.3 points per game.
Meanwhile, Tatum and Brown are still putting up massive numbers, but are doing so within the flow of the offense. Tatum had 53 points on 16-for-25 shooting in a win over the Minnesota Timberwolves.
Brown had 40 points on 17-for-20 shooting in Thursday night’s win over the Lakers.
Big man Robert Williams has thrived since being inserted into the starting five. The 23-year-old is now averaging 8.2 points, 7.0 rebounds and 1.8 blocks, while shooting 72% from the floor in 18.9 minutes per game. He has the seventh-best player efficiency rating in the entire league.
Guard Kemba Walker (17.6 ppg) has gotten stronger as the season has progressed and has turned into the No. 3 scoring option that the C’s need him to be.
Marcus Smart is doing his thing, and veteran big man Tristan Thompson is giving the team 8.0 points and 8.2 rebounds per game.
Celtics head coach Brad Stevens will tell you the biggest factor for the turnaround has been that ev
eryone is in uniform and playing. Well, except for guard Evan Fournier, who has been out due to health and safety protocols.
The C’s have been ravaged by COVID-19 health and safety protocols more than any team in the league. There’s no doubt that played a role in their subpar win-loss record.
However, it’s clear that they realized they needed to change their approach and style to focus more on team basketball than individual basketball. The old approach of having your stars go one-on-one or pound the ball into the hardwood for 15 seconds wasn’t working, and wasn’t aesthetically pleasing.
This now looks like a new Celtics team, one capable of making noise in the playoffs and at least threatening to come out of the East.
We’ll see if this team is here to stay.