The Boston Celtics are Contenders and Pretenders
By Jeremy Karll
The Boston Celtics are one of the most surprising teams in the NBA this season. They’re 30-22 and currently sit third in the Eastern Conference, something no one saw coming. There was reason to have hope after the Celtics went 40-42 last season and reached the playoffs as a seven seed. Nonetheless, this season thus far came out of the blue and a lot of people in Boston and around the NBA don’t know what to make of it.
The Celtics will be well represented in Toronto next weekend as Isaiah Thomas will take part in the All-Star game and Skills Challenge, and second year guard Marcus Smart will play in the Rising Stars game. Kelly Olynyk was a hopeful for the three-point competition but sadly he was snubbed. So far, Boston has the record, the recognition during one of the biggest weekends in basketball, but the question still looms: Are the Boston Celtics contenders or pretenders?
It’s a difficult question to answer because Boston has a head coach who is one of the best, young coaches in the NBA but is only in his third year; Brad Stevens. The team has a lot of bright, young players budding with potential, yet most of them will enter this year’s playoffs with only the experience of getting swept by the Cleveland Cavaliers last season. Boston is also one of the deepest teams in the league, at every position, but still lacks a true star which is needed come playoff time.
In ESPN’s last power rankings, they ranked the Boston Celtics as the eighth best team in the NBA and the third best team in the East. Boston is finally starting to get recognition around the league after winning eight of their past nine games. There’s no doubt that this team has not been looked at as a true contender since ‘The Big 3’ disbanded, however, that is starting to change.
Boston is compiled of a bunch of players that a lot of people have forgotten about, but are still solid contributors. Jared Sullinger and Kelly Olynyk have put up solid numbers for Boston this season, yet have been forgotten about since their great college days. The thing that makes Boston scary in the playoffs is their depth. Brad Stevens is not afraid to give 10 guys a night significant minutes, which may be cut down come playoff time but shows the depth that they have.
Stevens is also one of the best coaches in utilizing what he has to the best of his and the team’s abilities. He has helped transform Isaiah Thomas into a playmaker to go along with his great scoring ability. Jae Crowder and Avery Bradley are both becoming some of the best 3-and-D players in the league, while Olynyk has been shooting lights out this season from behind the arc (41.7 percent). Not to mention how effective Jonas Jerebko has been off the bench and the all-around play of Evan Turner has allowed him to give valuable minutes off the bench to help keep starters fresh.
There are a lot of people who say that depth can’t win championships, you need stars. The lack of a true “star” argument towards Boston may be valid, although Thomas and Crowder are both getting there. Looking at their dominance on both sides of the ball proves it.
The Celtics like to be known for their tenacious defense, however, their offense has been the headlines as of late and throughout the whole season. Under the radar, the Celtics average the sixth most points per game in the NBA and lead the East with 104.6 points. That is due to great ball movement, and the development of Isaiah Thomas as a playmaker, not just a scorer. Boston averages 24.3 assists per game as a team, good enough for fifth in the NBA.
Extra possessions created by offensive rebounds has also been a staple for this team. The Celtics are one of the worst shooting teams from the field (43.6 percent, 24th in NBA). Although, they rank sixth in the NBA in offensive rebounding (11.6 per game) and as a result attempt the most shots in a game (89.5 field goal attempts per game). Poor shooting is what kills teams during playoffs because the intensity goes up and it’s harder to get offensive rebounds.
One downside of the way the Celtics play is it might not transfer over to a more half-court style in the playoffs. Boston is a very athletic team and as a result like to run a lot, a reason why they attempt so many shots. Boston averages 15.1 fast break points per game, sixth best in the league. During the playoffs, games are slowed down and more defensive oriented. They might not get as many open threes, which could be trouble since they shoot so many. Boston attempts 27.0 threes a game, seventh in the NBA, but not running as much could cause that number to drop. The question of whether Boston’s offensive gameplan will work in the playoffs is yet to be seen.
On the other side of the ball, Boston ranks tenth in opponents points per game, allowing 100.4 per game. Opponents shoot a measly 43.0 percent from the field, tied for second best in the NBA with the Golden State Warriors. The Celtics also rank second in steals per game, averaging 9.6 per game.
There is no question that this is one of the best defensive teams in the NBA, especially considering how spread out their defensive talent is. Avery Bradley and Marcus Smart make up for Isaiah Thomas’ size. Jae Crowder is becoming one of the best defensive wing players in the league, reminding me a lot of Jimmy Butler. Down low, the Celtics have a nice offense-defense combo of Amir Johnson and Jared Sullinger. The talent is spread all over for Boston, which is good and bad.
Come playoff time you get more rest and teams usually won’t use as much depth. That could be a problem for Boston because everyone brings something unique to the team every night. Brad Stevens could choose to keep the rotation, but might get burned if Crowder only sees 30ish minutes and someone like LeBron James is playing 40+ minutes. Boston will have to change their rotation, but how will that affect the team?
While the Celtics have all the depth in the world, their whole team is made up of players around the same talent level. They also haven’t figured out their rotation yet. Tyler Zeller went through a long stretch or rarely seeing playing time but is now getting 20+ minutes a night. Jonas Jerebko has had some solid games for the Celtics this season, but is he going to be a contributor come playoff time?
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Also, when it comes down to crunch time the Celtics don’t have a go-to guy. Isaiah Thomas has taken over that role but he is most effective when the Celtics are playing fast, not in half-court offense like he’ll see in the playoffs. During the four losses in the playoffs last season, Thomas shot a measly 33.3 percent from the field. I wouldn’t read too much into it, but Thomas does only shoot 23.9 percent from 3-10 feet away this season. There is no question that Thomas can create his own shot, however, a lot of that is due to the fast offensive tempo the Celtics play.
This is going to be a question swirling this team until playoff time. They’re arguably the surprise team of the year and it’s fair to question how good they are.
If a contender is only considered teams who can win it all, then the answer would be they’re a pretender. However, I would also argue that only about three or four teams are contenders in that case. To me, a contender is a team who has a chance to make the NBA Finals, which is about seven teams in my mind.
Despite the crazy win over the Cleveland Cavaliers last night, I think the Cavaliers and Toronto Raptors are on a tier of their own in the East. Then I think the Celtics, Atlanta Hawks and Miami Heat are on the next tier.
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The Celtics are contenders in my mind because if an upset happens and they only have to face either Cleveland or Toronto, and not both, I don’t think an upset is out of question. With that being said, they’re also pretenders in my mind considering no one knows how this group will play in the playoffs and there are a lot of questions revolving around their rotation, and lack of a true star. Boston is both this season, making it even more exciting to see what happens.