Boston Celtics Need Consistency on Road Trip
The Boston Celtics are about to begin their longest road trip of this young season as they will be playing five games away from the TD Garden. The Celtics have been a stronger team at home this year but there is no reason to believe they cannot be just as successful playing away from home. No matter where they have played, the Celtics have appeared to dictate most of their games but too often they have come out flat footed.
The Celtics know what they are capable of and the game against the Washington Wizards in a perfect example. The Celtics use their defense to propel them on the offensive end. The Celtics take advantage of mistake made by their opponents and they feed off of each other’s energy in order to spark the defensive runs.
Even in their loses this season, the Celtics have had momentary defensive runs. The problems have come during the times when they lack any kind of defensive intensity. Too often the Celtics have lacked the energy that they need to be successful and what follows is a lot of easy baskets for the opponents and a lot of bad shots for the Celtics.
The Celtics clearly are not a strong shooting team. Even in the games when they have scored well over 100 points, almost every time it is because of the volume of the their shots, not because of how efficient they have been. The Celtics’ offense depends greatly on the etxra opportunities generated by turnovers and by offensive rebounds. The problem is that in order to get enough of those extra opportunities, the Celtics need to be playing with the highest level of energy for an entire game.
Nov 25, 2015; Boston, MA, USA; Boston Celtics center Jared Sullinger (7) shoots a three point shot during the second half against the Philadelphia 76ers at TD Garden. Mandatory Credit: Bob DeChiara-USA TODAY Sports
The TD Garden is one of the greatest atmospheres to play in in all of sports and there is no doubting that the Celtics will feed off of energy from the crowd. The crowd is far from the only way the Celtics elevate their energy level but it still remains a factor. When the Celtics are looking to maintain that high energy for an entire game, every advantage can make a difference. Given the way the Celtics have disappeared during games this season, there is a great concern that without the added boost from the crowd, the Celtics will need to find more ways to bring that energy.
Throw in that the Celtics will be without Marcus Smart for the duration of this road trip and the Celtics cannot afford to let up any point during the road trip. The Celtics are going to have to fight through shooting slumps. They are going to have to fight through quick whistles and they are going to have to generate even more energy from within.
No team depends more on hustle and energy plays than the Celtics and while that often puts them in much easier positions to win games, it also puts them in a position where if they lack that energy, they are going to struggle even against the weakest opponents.
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The Celtics have yet to prove that they can consistently bring the necessary energy as a team and this road trip will be a great opportunity to prove that they can continue to play at that highest level.