The 2020-21 season hasn’t been kind to the Boston Celtics, but it isn’t the end of the world…yet.
Despite their .500 start to the season, they are still half a game back of home-field advantage in the first round of the playoffs, and 4.5 games back of the top seed in the east.
It’s been a tough year for everyone–even the league-best Utah Jazz, who are in the process of repairing the rocky relationship between their two stars caused by Rudy Gobert’s lax attitude about COVID-19 last March–so as things slowly get better, perhaps things will shift back to normal.
As NBA fans know, normal means a Boston Celtics team firing on all cylinders. That just hasn’t been the theme of the 2020-21 season so far.
Why is that? Today, we answer that question…
Reason #1 for Boston Celtics underperforming: Injuries and absences
Usually, injuries are the sole reason for a player being slapped with the DNP label. There were the occasional bouts of sickness (which seems like a regular occurrence now in a post-COVID society), but there was not the level of precaution taken in today’s game in existence ever before.
Players have missed time to not only positive COVID-19 tests this year, but also due to even being in contact with someone that had COVID-like symptoms.
This is an aspect that cannot be lost on this season. Jayson Tatum, Jaylen Brown, Semi Ojeleye, and Robert Williams all had COVID-related absences in 2021.
Reason #2 for Boston Celtics underperforming: Lack of continuity from 2019-20
The Utah Jazz are a perfect example of what keeping a core together could do for a team in the age of global pandemics turning the league on its head. On the flip side, the Milwaukee Bucks and Philadelphia 76ers are showing what you can do when you integrate new pieces.
The Cs are somewhere in between, with an influx of new young talent and the loss of Gordon Hayward. On the flip side, though, the C’s current starting lineup (Kemba Walker-Jaylen Brown-Jayson Tatum-Semi Ojeleye-Daniel Theis) consists of players from last season.
As Walker said after Sunday’s loss, it’s not the same Cs from the bubble (via NBCSN):
"Every year is different. Every season is different. We have a whole new team. We have young guys. That’s on us, that’s on myself and some of the guys who have been around."
It just was not the lineup used throughout the postseason. Because of injuries to the likes of Kemba Walker to start the season, and Marcus Smart currently, the Cs have not been able to replicate the lineup that got them to the Eastern Conference finals in 2020 for sustained portions of the season.
Reason #3 for Boston Celtics underperforming: Underwhelming free agent signings
We’ve covered the C’s 2020 offseason at length, and the majority of the general public agrees that Danny Ainge missed the mark this past November.
He not only failed to mine any value out of the Gordon Hayward sign-and-trade, but Ainge also spent his MLE on an underwhelming big (Tristan Thompson) and whiffed on the veteran point guard he signed to fill in for Walker to begin the season (Jeff Teague).
While he seemingly nailed the draft with Payton Pritchard and (to a lesser degree) Aaron Nesmith, his FA period was underwhelming.
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