Boston Celtics: Team got their groove back

A sluggish start for the Boston Celtics had some squirming. As of late, it appears the team has recaptured their mojo.

There is a possibility that some fans of the Boston Celtics have been thinking, “Is this team still underachieving?”

The answer, with a four-game winning streak in tow, is a simple “no”.

In reality, the play of the Celtics goes much deeper than that, with the word “underachieving” maybe not even the right one. It should be more aptly labeled with the phrase “finally figuring things out”.

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Dreams and expectations of dominating the Eastern Conference followed the Boston Celtics throughout the offseason. This was a club bringing back virtually the same roster from 2017-18.

Toss in a healthy Gordon Hayward and talk was of a very special 2018-19, sparking talk of a Celtics team that would contend for the throne.

It’s taken almost two months of the regular season — a blip in time — but the team finally appears to be gelling. This is understandable considering they essentially added an all-star to a well-rounded, tight-knit group.

The Celtics added two all-stars if you take into account Kyrie Irving was sidelined during Boston’s stretch run to the Eastern Conference Finals last spring.

In his absence, players like Jayson Tatum, Jaylen Brown and Terry Rozier took on added responsibility, each responding with stellar playoff performances at opportune times.

Same faces, new roles

Integrating two all-stars was going to take some time. Perhaps the early season results of 2018-19 were closer to what we might have seen last season had Hayward not suffered a devastating injury.

Through the first 20 games of this season, Hayward was still (understandably) finding his footing. Minutes were regulated and players, including Hayward, were finding their roles.

Hayward appears to be back to his old self as does the rest of the roster. Players are realizing how they fit into the success of the team and head coach Brad Stevens is finding rotations that work, balancing playing time without stifling the progress of young stars like Tatum and Brown.

Tatum is currently second on the team in scoring (16.4 ppg) and leads the Celtics in rebounding (6.5). He continues to grow and has locked down a spot in the starting lineup.

Brown, on the other hand, has struggled to get out of the blocks this season. He’s still dropping 11.6 points per game, but has been cold from beyond the arc, connecting on only 24.7 percent of his three-point attempts.

After missing the last three games, however, Brown had one of his best games of the season against the Knicks. Coming off the bench, Brown had 21 points on 7-10 shooting. He missed his only two 3-point attempts.

If players fitting into roles means Brown coming off the bench, I’m all for it. Marcus Smart brings a strong defensive presence to the starting lineup and Brown may very well bring the scoring punch needed off the bench.

Three-point shooting

Early season woes for the Celtics might have been directly traced to an inordinate amount of three’s taken corresponding with threes missed.

That might have not been exactly the case.

In their last four games, Boston is still hoisting up on average 38 three-point attempts per game. They’ve connected on average 16.5 for a percentage of 43.4.

I’ll take this number over the 9-40 and 9-31’s they were putting up in losses. Still, I think this team is best served when their attempts from long distance sit around the 30 mark then getting that number into the 40’s.

This team can win multiple ways and some of their best basketball over the past two seasons has been played without playing in the style of the Golden State Warriors and Houston Rockets.

If Boston wants to keep rolling, they’ll need to find a happy balance between living and dying by the three ball. But while we’re here, watching the Celtics win again, we might as well enjoy it.