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Boston Celtics Getting Defense From Their Depth

By Joshua Bateman

BOSTON, MA - OCTOBER 24: Daniel Theis 27 of the Boston Celtics celebrates with Semi Ojeleye #37 and Shane Larkin #8 during the fourth quarter against the New York Knicks at TD Garden on October 24, 2017 in Boston, Massachusetts. The Celtics defeat the Knicks 110-89. (Photo by Maddie Meyer/Getty Images)
BOSTON, MA - OCTOBER 24: Daniel Theis 27 of the Boston Celtics celebrates with Semi Ojeleye #37 and Shane Larkin #8 during the fourth quarter against the New York Knicks at TD Garden on October 24, 2017 in Boston, Massachusetts. The Celtics defeat the Knicks 110-89. (Photo by Maddie Meyer/Getty Images) /
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Daniel Theis and Semi Ojeleye are a big part of what the Boston Celtics are doing on defense

The Boston Celtics have surprised a lot of people with how quickly they have recovered from the disastrous start to the season. They still have plenty of problems, but the main reason for their success has been defense.

The Celtics are one of the top defensive teams in the league, and they are making sure they never have any liability on the floor. Stevens is playing defenders that he is comfortable with at all times, and a lot of them are given difficult roles.

Whether or not the staring unit was going to be good defensively was a big enough of a question for the Celtics. The second unit defense was supposed to be one of the weaknesses of this team, especially with an undersized an inexperienced front court.

The starters deserve the majority of the credit for this defensive surge, but it would not be possible without the depth being provided by Semi Ojeleye and Daniel Theis.

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The two of them are seeing their roles expand, and they are playing more and more significant minutes. That never happens without defense, and when you add their ability to shoot it is easy to keep giving them the minutes.

The most impressive thing about Ojeleye has been his ability to physically matchup with anyone. Ojeleye is still playing limited minutes, but all of those minutes are counting. Stevens is using Ojeleye to throw something different at the toughest matchups on the court, and it is working extremely well so far.

Ojeleye is proving to be an incredibly versatile individual defender, and is becoming a go to option when Stevens need that strong defensive presence.

Theis has not been the same individual defender that Ojeleye has been, but he is securing the paint, and impacting the opponent on each possession. He he able to block shots despite being undersized, and he does not make the mistakes that can be attacked in the paint.

They have both been strong on the boards, and are not disrupting anything on offense. They are adapting quickly with the Celtics, and as long as the defense holds up those roles will get bigger.

The two of them are solidifying the overall defense of this team. The Celtics are playing great as a unit, and are not giving their opponent anything to attack.

When the second unit takes over, it is a lot easier to have liabilities on the court, but when Theis and Ojeleye are on the court, they are covering that up wonderfully. The Celtics have a second unit that cannot be exploited, and that is allowing them to hold down games a lot better.

Even if the second unit scoring is off, which it will be on many occasions this year, they will not ruin the game when they have five players on the court defending well.

These are the players that will also enable a lot of small ball situations for the Celtics. The second unit front court was a complete mystery and a big risk to be a disaster this season. No one is really taking over and dominating, but Theis and Ojeleye are doing as much as anyone else to hold things together with what they are able to do on defense.

The offense is still a progress and the Celtics are going to need time to figure things out. On defense, we are now seeing how may talented defenders that are on this team, and two rookies are looking more than ready to have a consistent NBA impact.

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We will see if things can hold up, because it is still too early to expect anything to be maintained. That being said, the defense of those two are what will allow the team to focus more on improving the offense, and becoming the powerhouse that was expected this season.

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