Is There Too Much Hype Surrounding the Celtics?
By Jeremy Karll
Many regard the Boston Celtics as the favorite to meet the Cleveland Cavaliers in the Eastern Conference Finals
After failing to trade away the third pick in the NBA Draft, or acquiring a star via trade, the Boston Celtics bet on themselves having an uncharacteristic great offseason. The Celtics did just that.
They were able to land marquee free agent Al Horford and sharpshooter Gerald Green. Despite losing starting power forward Jared Sullinger and sixth man Evan Turner to free agency, many, myself included, felt that Boston had the strongest offseason in the Eastern Conference.
With Isaiah Thomas coming off an All-Star caliber season and Avery Bradley being named to the All-Defensive First Team, adding four-time All-Star Al Horford was a key signing towards building a championship caliber team. Horford is a great compliment to one of the most dynamic back courts in the league, while also forcing opposing teams to now respect their front court.
Even though the Cleveland Cavaliers still stand alone atop the Eastern Conference, the Boston Celtics have replaced the Toronto Raptors as the favorite to meet Cleveland in the Eastern Conference Finals this year.
Toronto is coming off a franchise record 56 wins in 2015-16, finishing just one game behind Cleveland. They’ve won the Atlantic Division the past three seasons and are coming off a six-game series loss to the Cavaliers in the Eastern Conference Finals. Despite keeping their star-studded back court intact and adding Jared Sullinger via free agency, the Horford signing has pushed the Celtics ahead of the Raptors in many people’s eyes.
It makes sense why many think the Celtics could take the next step this season. They added an All-Star big man to their mediocre front court, which supports one of the best back courts in the league. Boston is as deep as any team in the league and Brad Stevens has masterfully constructed his rotation during his first three seasons in the NBA, cementing himself as one of the top coaches in the league. Not to mention that Boston’s core is one of the most youthful and should thrive in its second full year together.
Now with the tough part of the rebuild seemingly over, and the Celtics still owning the Brooklyn Nets firs round pick in the next two drafts, the Celtics have one of the brightest futures in the NBA. Still, this is a team that looked lost in the postseason last year and is coming off two consecutive first round exits. Granted in 2013-14 they were still in the midst of their rebuild, but Boston may not be ready to leap into the Eastern Conference Finals this season.
Despite winning 48 games last season, tying for the third best record in the Eastern Conference, that only tells part of the story. The Celtics had great fortune at the end of January and start of February, winning nine of ten games. Although, prior to their hot streak Boston was just 22-21 and was on the verge of falling below .500 just a week prior. Plus, Boston ended the season going 9-8 over the final month of the season.
When combining the start and end of the season, the Celtics only went a mediocre 31-29 (.517 winning percentage) over 60 games. If Boston didn’t have a hot streak in the middle of the season, going 17-5, the Celtics would have finished outside of the playoffs – Detroit Pistons owned a .537 winning percentage.
Obviously you can’t just ignore the 22 game run the Celtics went on, or the fact that they got significantly better this summer. With that being said, their 48 wins a season ago isn’t as dominating as it seems. Every great team goes on hot streaks and struggles to win games at times, but Boston needs to show more consistency in 2016-17.
An area that the Celtics did thrive in last season was beating teams they were supposed too, though. Boston only lost to non-playoff teams seven times last season, however back-to-back losses against the Brooklyn Nets and Los Angeles Lakers in the middle of the season proved to be devastating at the end of the year.
Teams will have trip-ups every once in a while, even the Golden State Warriors had them last season. However minimizing them and beating top-level competition consistently is key if the Celtics want to repeat their 48 win season. With the team they have this season another 17-5 run at some point in the season isn’t out of question, but that’s not a stretch a team should want to rely on, making consistency all more important.
Heading into 2016-17 the Celtics are the sexy team to pick as the most likely to improve and take the next step. They have a better idea of what their roster has to offer and Horford seems like a perfect fit in Brad Stevens offense alongside point guard Isaiah Thomas. Not to mention that Gerald Green could end up being one of the sneakiest signings this offseason is he finds his three-point shot.
When factoring in the offseason and the potential development of key players like Isaiah Thomas, Jae Crowder, Marcus Smart and others, it makes sense why so many people view Boston as the second beat team in the East heading into the season. At the same time, it’s hard to confidently put Boston ahead of Toronto before watching them play a game.
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The Raptors’ core has been together for years now and improved their front court by signing Jared Sullinger and drafting Jakob Poeltl. While the Raptors have struggled in the playoffs in the past two years, they are coming off two playoff series wins. Besides, the Celtics were anything but effective during their first round series against the Atlanta Hawks.
With that being said, the potential is there for the Celtics to have a great season. Their young core could all take the next steps and Horford could live up to the billing. In that case 50-plus wins wouldn’t be outrageous. It also wouldn’t be surprising to imagine the Boston Celtics failing to win 50 games due to a transition period early in the season and more inconsistent play, though.
Whether it was due to an early season injury to Marcus Smart early in the year, or late-season injuries to Kelly Olynyk and Jae Crowder, the Celtics were a different team in the middle of the year. They never lost back-to-back games and had multiple four-plus game winning streaks.
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If all goes right then the Boston Celtics will finally be able to get out of the first round and have a chance to go deep in the playoffs, somewhat replicating the play they showed last season. It’s not a guarantee, though. Let’s not forget that Boston was still in rebuild mode just a year ago and started the season 22-21 before becoming the second hottest team in the NBA last season.