Boston Celtics: Never Too Early for Defense
A 3-1 start for the Boston Celtics has them playing right along with expectations, but should they be worried about a less-than-stellar defense?
A season ago, behind the pressure of Jae Crowder and Marcus Smart, the Boston Celtics could credit much of their success to improved play on defense.
Even though many of the faces are the same, the first week of results haven’t been quite the same.
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Part of it can be attributed to allowing 117 points on opening night to the Brooklyn Nets. As of now, the Celtics are currently allowing 103.5 points per game. Not through the roof bad, but to make a run at the Eastern Conference title, those numbers will probably need to come down.
Luckily, the offense is doing just enough to eke out the victories. In today’s NBA, where offense reigns supreme and the three-pointer rules, it’s easy to point at the Golden State Warriors and say, “Hey, who needs defense when your offense is clicking?”
Looking at game seven of the 2016 NBA Finals, two of the biggest plays came by the Cleveland Cavaliers on the defensive side of the ball. There was Kevin Love forcing Steph Curry into a difficult shot. And of course, there was the blocked shot by Lebron James.
A reason for Boston’s defense allowing triple-digit scoring is because of their lack of rebounding. This has been an affliction of the Celtics for the past few seasons. Amir Johnson is the closest the Celtics have to a true rebounder. Al Horford will certainly get his fair share as well. It also hurst that two of the better players that excelled in the rebound department last season, Jared Sullinger and Evan Turner, are no longer with the team.
One of the things that propelled the team last season was forced turnovers. Steals per game by the Celtics numbered in double digits. That number is down to under eight per game in four games this season.
Getting Smart back will certainly help. He was a key defensive catalyst last season and his presence helped a key first-half surge in the first half of Wednesday’s victory over the Bulls.
And on the positive side, the Celtics are holding their opponents to a lower field goal percentage than at this point last season. If that trend continues, then the opponents average should continue to dip.
Unfortunately, we still haven’t seen the Celtics at full strength. Horford is out at least one more game due to a concussion. Crowder left the Bulls game with an ankle injury and may be out a week.
Fans may enjoy the high-scoring affairs, but the Celtics are much better when their effort on defense is maxed out. Boston’s best stretches last season are when the defense thrived.
Next: Celtics Hand Bulls First Loss
It’s way too early to go into full on worry mode. The kinks are being worked out and once this team gets at full strength, the games in the low 90’s for opponents will return. Combine that with the early offensive outbursts of Isaiah Thomas and Avery Bradley and this season will become an exciting one indeed.