Boston Celtics: Amir Johnson Plays Offense Too

Amir Johnson is more than just a defensive anchor for the Celtics

Amir Johnson is often lauded for his defensive skills. He’s attentive and active on that end of the court, and it translates to effective pick and roll coverage and quality rim protection. Those are valuable contributions, and they’re particularly meaningful for the Celtics, who lacked a second quality defensive big before adding Al Horford this summer.

Johnson isn’t necessarily an “elite-level” defender, and he lost minutes to small-ball experimentation last year, but he is an important part of Boston’s roster regardless. Defense is certainly his primary strength, and it deserves praise, but the result of that defensive focus is that his offensive impact gets lost in the shuffle.

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Johnson doesn’t have a tremendous amount of traditional offensive skills like dribbling, passing, and shooting, but he does a lot of little things that keep an offense humming. In fact, the Celtics scored 4.7 more points per 100 possessions with Johnson on the court, and gave up 1.8 more points per possession to opposing teams.

Those kinds of on/off numbers can be misleading, and are heavily influenced by the fact that Johnson spent most of his time playing with the Celtics’ starters. That unit includes significantly greater offensive firepower, while the bench made its greatest impact on defense.

While Johnson’s context may have influenced the statistical representation of his overall impact, he was also a contributor to that thriving offensive ecosystem, and the truth of the matter remains that Boston’s offense was more effective with him on the court than without him. There is no clear cause and effect relationship here, but to be a part of an high-functioning offensive unit suggests at least some modicum of offensive skills.

Johnson is an effective screen setter, both on and off the ball, and can often be found running from one screen to the next. He does not shy away from the job, and while his only real move in the direct pick and roll is to drive to the hoop, he does so plenty well enough to set the offense in motion. Screening for the ball-handler forces the defense to react, and keeps him headed in the direction where he is most effective, the paint.

One of Johnson’s other great offensive strengths is shot selection. One brief, but very much intentional, foray into the world of three-point shooting notwithstanding, Johnson sticks to his knitting when scoring. In fact, if you cut out his three-point experimentation, 94 percent of his shots last year came from within ten feet, with 61.9 percent coming at the rim. That’s an incredible commitment to staying in your lane, and really that is the crux of what makes Johnson valuable on the offensive end.

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What Johnson excels at offensively is not glamorous. Setting screens and only shooting layups won’t get you a mammoth shoe contract or a spot on the cover of NBA2K. It takes a form of humility to play the role that Johnson does, and he’s embraced it in a way that very few players seem interested in doing. The Celtics offense has benefitted mightily from it.

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