A young, exciting team has the Boston Celtics off to a strong start but there is still plenty to wish for this holiday season.
A two-game skid aside, positive things are swirling around the Boston Celtics in 2019-20. Hope is a wondrous thing and there is plenty of it to go around this season.
Blessings have been counted in regards to the play of Kemba Walker, Jaylen Brown and Jayson Tatum. Walker leads the team in scoring, including a 44-point outburst against the Indiana Pacers.
Tatum (20.6 ppg) and Brown (19.3 ppg) have both taken steps forward, with Brown looking very much worth the extension he signed earlier this year.
Then there’s the return of Gordon Hayward. Sure, Hayward played last year but he started off this season in a form that showed why Boston fall in love with him in the first place.
Toss in a 10-1 record at home, Marcus Smart becoming a leader and a starting lineup that is (mostly) playing solid defense, the beginning of the season has been a delightful one.
Still, as the calendar creeps ever closer to 2020, there are certain objectives this team needs to reach to build towards a deep playoff run. A wish for banner number 18 is a given, yes, so here are three other wishes for the Boston Celtics this holiday season.
Staying healthy
Grinding out 82 games, plus a championship run, is always going to have players get nicked up along the way. The key is keeping these injuries to a minimum and hoping they don’t happen to a team’s star players.
The Boston Celtics have already been bitten by the injury-bug early in 2019-20 and the holiday wish is that the worst of it is behind us.
Gordon Hayward is the biggest injury to date. A injury to his hand had Hayward missing exactly a month. He was playing well early, scoring 20 or more points in four games, including a 39-point performance against the Cleveland Cavaliers; a game in which he shot 17 of 20 from the field.
In three games since his return, Hayward is averaging 14 points and 29.3 minutes per game. But he’s shooting 55.9 percent from the floor and should find the early-season flow once again.
Marcus Smart is another player to keep an eye on. He’s missed four out the last five games. While rest is good for the team’s most important defender, Smart missing an extended time would not bode well for the Celtics.
Staying a relatively healthy has been a plus thus far for the Boston Celtics. And will be integral as we head to the cold winter months.
Improved bench play
If there is one thing missing so far this season, it’s consistent contributions from the bench.
And it’s likely going to be Marcus Smart or Gordon Hayward who fills that role. Both may end up on the floor at the end of close games and both are capable of leading the second unit.
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It’s wishing for better play from the rest of the unit that’s needed.
The Celtics are winning games with a formula of most of the starting lineup scoring in double figures. While this has worked, better bench production is needed to ease some of the pressure off the starting lineup.
Guys like Enes Kanter, Robert Williams, and Brad Wanamaker have provided valuable minutes off the bench, as has Semi Ojeleye. They all bring something special to the court, but it’s getting them to do so on the same night that’s been the trick.
The rookie class has also found their spots, with Grant Williams and Carsen Edwards seeing most of the time. Others, such as Romeo Langford, are having trouble cracking the rotation — mostly because the Boston Celtics are loaded at the guard and wing positions.
The wish for this holiday season is that these players start to find their rhythm and become valuable contributors to this team. Doing so will also help with the next wish on the list.
A complete game
Kemba Walker may have summed up exactly where this wish stems from when he said:
"“We have stretches where we’re playing super well. And then we have lapses. And we just have times where we’re just, like, it’s bad. It just looks really bad. So we just have to tone that down a little bit, just try our best to put 48-minute games together.”"
Six of Boston’s seven losses have come against teams that currently have winning records. Lapses like those Walker is discussing can be overcome against some teams. But when it comes to the likes of Philadelphia, a team like the 76ers are going to make you pay for mistakes.
Unlike last year, lack of chemistry is not an issue. This team has gelled together rather quickly. Now, it’s a matter of the previously mentioned bench stepping up. Whether it’s playing with the starters or even a full “line change”, the wish is that consistency can be had from top to bottom.
Then those leads won’t disappear. Consistency from start to finish will mean the difference between a top one or two seed between finishing fourth or fifth. And I believe that will come, especially as Gordon Hayward is worked back into the rotation.
Now, we wait to see if these wishes can come true.