Here are some not so encouraging stats about the Celtics’ regular season…
I know Celtics fans are riding pretty high right now especially with last night’s dominant performance over the Indiana Pacers, but this article might bring us down a little bit. I’m not trying to be negative about the Celtics but it goes along with the 5 Great Celtics Stats article I wrote along with this. It’s no secret the Celtics have been a disappointment on many fronts this season but they’re still incredibly talented so in many categories they still rank among the league’s best. However, I will be going over some team and individual statistics where that’s not the case:
Stat No. 1: 7.1% and 0.78
This is a two for one stat which is extremely discouraging. The Celtics rank eighth in the NBA in isolation frequency (7.1%), but 28th in points per possession when doing so (0.78). When the NBA inevitably slows down in the coming playoff matchups, the Celtics players have to fight the urge to take their man one-on-one because, quite frankly, they’re awful at it (besides Kyrie Irving). Trusting Brad Stevens’ system, and more importantly each other, is going to determine how far this team goes and we will finally find out if these guys can really put their pride aside.
Stat No. 2: 100
This season, the Celtics’ wins are split almost right down the middle in terms of pace; half of their wins are when they play above the league average (100), and half when they play under. The only difference is in the loss column – when the Celtics lose, about 80 percent of those losses are when their pace is less than that 100 mark. This doesn’t mean when the team plays slow they are guaranteed to lose, but it does mean when the Celtics play faster they win much more often. Also, if they do play slower, they need to share the ball and methodically dismantle their opponent like we all know they’re capable of.
Stat No. 3: 38.3
The Celtics drive to the basket an average of 38.3 times per game. As I’m sure most people who watch the NBA have noticed, the league has moved towards shooting either lay-ups or three-pointers almost exclusively. The Celtics rank towards the top when we’re talking about their three-point tendency (See my other article which outlines 5 great Celtics stats going into the playoffs), however, the other half of the efficiency equation is lay-ups, an area the Celtics are lacking: 26th in drives per-game. This stat is not all bad; despite being at the bottom of drives per-game, they are top seven in FG% when doing so. All they have to do is listen to Tommy Heinsohn and go to the basket.
Stat No. 4: 0.216
Celtics have a 0.216 FTA rate (The number of free throw attempts a team shoots in comparison to the number of field goal attempts they shoot). It’s been a season-long issue; this team never gets to the FT line. While this seems like a problem and could very well be a product of the team not driving to the basket enough, Brad Stevens didn’t seem to be too worried about it when he was bombarded with questions a few months ago. Given their rankings among the top of the NBA in many efficiencies despite not getting to the line suggests they don’t have to draw fouls to get the shots their looking for.
Stat No. 5: Terry Rozier
Finally, just like in my other article, I am going over an individual player’s stats for the year. Unfortunately for Terry Rozier, he landed himself on this list. He currently ranks last on the team in true shooting percentage and effective shooting percentage, he’s second worst on the team in offensive rating, and has the third highest isolation frequency despite being eighth in minutes-per-game and is in the 33.8 percentile league-wide in points-per-possession in isolation (these were among players averaging 10+ minutes on the team).
Rozier really stepped up during last year’s playoff run but he has used up all of his goodwill. The man is the only significant player on the team with a negative plus-minus and the most frustrating thing is we know he’s capable of being awesome, he just hasn’t been all season.