The Boston Celtics have cemented themselves as one of the elite defensive teams in the NBA. The points per game they give do not come close to reflecting how good they are on that end but their defensive efficiency captures it. The Celtics have the 4th best defensive efficiency in the league and they have been in the top 5 for the entirety of this season.
The Celtics are winning games because of their defense and Brad Stevens’ greatest accomplishment is turning this Celtics team into a defensive power house. The curious aspect of the Celtics’ defense is they have sustained this success without any true rim protector. Time and time again top big men have abused the Celtics in the paint and they simply do not have the size to battle that.
Kelly Olynyk is much improved, Amir Johnson and Jared Sullinger are solid, but none of them are able to hold their own in the paint against the best big men in the league. The question then arises, how have the Celtics been able to win so many games because of their defense without having a dominant interior defender. The answer has been the key to the Celtics’ success in every phase, pace.
The Celtics are the third fastest team in the league and just as their pace allows them to make up for their lack of solid shooting, pace also makes up for their lack of an interior force. The Celtics have the 10th worst rebounding rate in the NBA, they rank 23rd in blocks per game and that is with all their stats being inflated due to their pace.
The Celtics do, however, force the most turnovers in the league and their opponents have the 5th worst shooting percentage in the NBA. The Celtics’ defense is built around forcing their opponent into uncomfortable situations and capitalizing on every mistake. The Celtics have ferocious on ball defenders that never give the ball handler a moment without pressure and their phenomenal off ball defenders are there to make sure no mistake goes unpunished.
Because of the pace the Celtics play at it is inevitable that their opponent will get a high volume of opportunities. The Celtics take too many quick shots to avoid making their own offensive mistakes that puts the pressure on their defense. The good news is that the pressure is where they flourish.
The Celtics can only be successful when they are playing their game and pushing the ball, and that applies to both ends of the court. When the Celtics control the pace that helps put their opponent in positions that their defense can exploit. It puts their opponent in more situations where they force things and with how good the Celtics are at causing mistakes, they take over games when their pace forces the opponent into those bad situations.
The Celtics use their pace to force their opponents into quick decisions and that is where their defense feasts. Those quick decisions lead to a lot more mistakes and there is no better team in the NBA in exploiting those mistakes. The Celtics use those mistakes to further push the pace in transition and it prevents opposing teams from setting up in the half court and finding the mis match in the interior.
Most defenses struggle with elevated pace. The energy required to defend in pace is much higher and it is a lot easier to have defensive break down when things are being rushed. The Celtics separate themselves from the rest of the NBA with their ability to defend in that pace. Their defense is never fazed by a team pushing the ball and their activity takes their opponent out of rhythm.
If the Celtics allowed their opponents to remain in rhythm with the increased pace then they would struggle. They have been so successful because of their ability to force teams into those uncomfortable situations despite giving them more than enough possessions. The Celtics never have a player on the court that isn’t ready to pounce on a mistake and in a fast pace game there will be more mistakes on both ends.
The Celtics get offensive success by using great ball movement to ensure that they get the highest quantity of good quality opportunities. Their defense gets success by forcing their opponent into a higher volume of bad opportunities. Normally, defenses will struggle if their opponent is getting more opportunities but the Celtics need their opponent to have those opportunities. The Celtics depend on their defense to get them going in transition and with their incredible ability to force turnovers and contest shots they can trust that they will get more good quality opportunities than their opponent.
The Celtics need their opponents to make enough mistakes for them to capitalize on and the faster the game is the more mistakes they are able to force. The Celtics avoid any pitfalls by making sure even when mistakes are not being made, nothing comes easy to their opponent. The down side is that this defensive system is not always maintained.
The Celtics often give up points in bunches and that happens when their defensive intensity cannot catch up to the pace. The Celtics will always be giving their opponent a high quantity of possessions but the key for them has always been the quality of those possessions. The Celtics have so much success because they are the best team in the league in taking away the quality opportunities.
Next: Celtics May not be as Limited as We All Thought
Pace has been crucial to the Celtics’ success all season long and they are one of the few defensive teams that wants their opponent to get more possessions. The Celtics are lacking in offensive play makers but they are not lacking in defensive play makers. The Celtics generate much of their offense from their defense and because of that they have no problem when their opponents are able to use pace to get a high quantity of opportunities.