Boston Celtics: Common characteristics of team’s most encouraging wins
By Ryan Feyre
As winners of four of their last five, the Boston Celtics are finally starting to gel as a team. Many of their victories in 2018 are due to a couple of common trends.
After a surprisingly mediocre start to the 2018-2019 season, the Boston Celtics have looked a lot better, winning four of their past five games. As of right now, they’re sixth in the Eastern Conference, with a record of 13-10.
After mounds of frustration from star point guard Kyrie Irving, and coach Brad Stevens, the starting lineup seems to finally be gelling.
The biggest obstacle the organization had to face back in October was integrating Gordon Hayward and Kyrie Irving into the lineup after both experienced significant time off due to major injuries and surgeries.
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After some adversity, the Celtics are beginning to look like the Eastern Conference juggernaut everyone thought they’d be. They still have a ton of work to do, especially with the emergence of a difficult Milwaukee Bucks squad, and an even harder Toronto Raptors team.
In the meantime, here’s a look at a couple of the common trends the Boston Celtics have shown throughout their victories.
Their offense plays well
Most of the time, the Boston Celtics have found success when their starters actually score the basketball (not just Kyrie). They have such a variety of talent, that there should be no excuse when none of them are on their game.
For the majority of their wins, at least four of the five starters score in double digits. This has happened in the past four of their victories.
Jayson Tatum’s starting to re-emerge after a roller-coaster start to the season. The sophomore player is averaging 16 points per game on 49 percent shooting in his last 10 games. As he continues to give help to Irving, a chance at winning will always be in sight.
Boston in general experiences much better results when the offense gets going. The Boston Celtics average 114 points per game in wins, compared to only 101 in losses. Either way however, they only shoot 40 percent in either outcome.
The biggest discrepancy between their wins and losses is how well they shoot the three-ball. While I’ve personally have never been a fan of their tendencies to hoist up unprecedented shots, the numbers don’t lie.
Boston has a 39 percent three-point percentage in their victories and is 31 percent in their losses. It’s the epitome of not only their game but the NBA in general, despite the constant poor attempts they make.
Either way, when everyone contributes, the Celtics win. Even the bench. In an early November game against the Detroit Pistons, their highest scorer wasn’t even in the starting lineup. Not only that, but only one starter scored in double digits and they still won by 20.
When Boston’s depth is used to the best of its ability, success is imminent.
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They shoot more free throws
The Boston Celtics shoot 17 free throws a game in their wins and only 11 in their losses.
Despite the fact that they’re good at shooting threes, getting to the rim easily gives them more of an opportunity to score more, thus leading to a higher offensive rating.
Weirdly enough, when Aron Baynes plays more minutes, the Celtics tend to win. The center averages 16 minutes per game in wins, and 13 minutes in losses. He also shoots seven percentage points higher in those victories.
Sure, his impact may not be as felt as say a Kyrie or a Tatum, but Baynes worth is very much present. He’s definitely served as a nuisance in the paint much more than he did throughout the playoffs in May. Maybe Stevens should look into starting him more often.
In the end, giving the ball to Baynes or Al Horford will most certainly lead to a higher chance of getting to the free throw line. Baynes averages 2 free throw attempts in wins and only 0.4 in losses.
It also helps when the guy your paying $135 million for the next four years is finally coming into his own. Hopefully, that’s a trend that continues over the next few months. Hayward notched 30 points in a win against the Minnesota Timberwolves this past weekend. He’s only going to get better from here, as his knee heals more.
Next. Everyone is buzzing about Robert Williams. dark
Either way, the Boston Celtics are looking much better, and the head-scratching performances are starting to become less and less frequent. If they keep up with these fantastic offensive outputs than more wins will be on the horizon. The defense is already there, as they still rank second in the NBA in that category. Brad Stevens will surely keep them on this upward path.