Boston Celtics: 3 things that must improve for Cs to make deep playoff run

Thing that must improve for Boston Celtics No. 3) Kemba Walker

This part plays a bit into the first slide talking about health, as Kemba Walker has been plagued with injuries since his second-half of year one with the Boston Celtics, but aside from the core-four, the point guard playing at his best is pivotal when it comes to the team having a deep postseason run.

Deemed Beantown’s X-factor by Bleacher Report writer, Zach Buckley, the perennial All-Star at his A-game has proven to be a huge difference-maker for the Celtics this season:

"The 31-year-old’s All-Star days could be behind him—lost both to Father Time and knee problems—as the one-time elite shot-creator is now just a 59th percentile player as a pick-and-roll ball-handler. His field-goal percentage (40.1) and true shooting percentage (53.8) have both dipped lower than they’ve been since 2014-15. But when the Shamrocks get “Vintage Kemba,” they’re almost unstoppable (10-5 when he scores 20-plus). They also need his playmaking now more than ever with Gordon Hayward having relocated to Charlotte, and it’s no coincidence Walker’s best month as a distributor (6.5 assists per game in March) has been Boston’s strongest as a team (8-1 with a plus-8.6 net rating). The Celtics’ roster has a slew of question marks surrounding star wings Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown. If Walker moves into the certainty category, this group just might find a way to factor into the Eastern Conference race again."

Most recently, we saw the point guard guide the Jaylen Brown-less Celtics to an impressive victory over the Western Conference’s second-seeded suns, as he dropped a team-high 32 points on nearly 65 percent shooting from the field and 45 percent shooting from deep.

Brought on last offseason to be the lead guy in Boston, a healthy and locked-in Kemba Walker serving as the team’s third option makes the shamrocks a truly scary foe come playoff time for virtually any potential opponent.