Boston Celtics: 3 Cs that must show out through remainder of 2021

And just like that, we find ourselves past the quarter mark on the year where the Boston Celtics have constantly found themselves at or around a .500 record throughout.

While there’s still plenty of time for the shamrocks to get themselves on the right path towards legitimate playoff contender status between now and April, there are only a handful of weeks remaining for them to end the year of 2021 on a truly positive note.

Dating all the way back to last season, since the calendar turned its page to January Boston finds itself boasting a lackluster overall record of 47-51 (including playoffs), and now, with 10 games left on the year, the team has a chance to enter 2022 on the right foot, i.e. with a winning record.

That said, accomplishing such a feat could prove to be a rather challenging thing to do, for eight of their opponents during this stretch have been playing lights out as of late and, in turn, hold some of the best individual records in their respective conferences.

Because of this, we at HH believe the Cs as a collective unit will obviously need to be performing at their best, and 3 players, in particular, absolutely need to show out in order to give them a chance at finishing off 2021 with a winning record:

Boston Celtics player No. 1) Al Horford

In his return season to the Boston Celtics, Al Horford has actually be a quality asset within the team’s core rotation, serving as both a veteran leader as well as a capable all-around contributor along the way.

Through 22 games played the big man is posting solid averages of 12.5 points, 8.1 rebounds, 3.5 assists, and 1.6 blocks on 46 percent shooting from the floor.

However, through his last seven outings the 35-year-old’s effectiveness has been a bit underwhelming, particularly in the shooting department where he’s been converting on less than 30 percent on his long-range attempts, an aspect of his game that the Celtics need to see improve should they wish to get back on the right track.

Despite hoisting up the fifth most 3-point attempts on the team this year, Horford is converting at just the 10th best clip at just 30 percent.

Between the two bigs in the starting rotation, there’s simply no consistency in the floor spacing depatment, which then leads to erratic shooting and, in the end, an absolute log jam in the paint, making it harder for the likes of Jayson Tatum, Dennis Schroder, and Marcus Smart to drive the lane for at the rim finishes.

Above everything else, Al Horford must continue his solid overall contributions on the floor while also improving his efficiency in the long game. Should this happen, it will almost certainly siginificantly improve the team’s overall offensive efficiency.