On January 14th, the Boston Celtics were in 11th place in the Eastern Conference standings with a sub .500 record of 21-22. Marcus Smart was out with COVID and was scheduled to miss the next couple of games.
Fast forward to today, and the Boston Celtics are in ninth place with a record of 28-25 and with such a tight race in the East, that only sets them five games behind the first-place Chicago Bulls.
It may not seem like it, but since the C’s loss to the 76ers, they’ve been playing great basketball. They look like a whole new team and, with the trade deadline coming up next week, it is definitely going to make things interesting.
During their last ten games, Boston is a comfortable 7-3 and they have been getting production from everyone, despite their short bench. During this stretch, they’re leading the league in +/- with a +11.3 per game.
The next closest is the league’s best ball club, the Phoenix Suns, with a +8.9.
Something else that’s important to keep an eye out for is the C’s stunning defense recently.
In this same span of ten games, the Boston Celtics are limiting their opponents to a 42.3% field goal percentage, the best in the entire association.
Their defensive rating is sitting at number one in the league during this stretch with a rating of 102.2.
While the shamrocks have been firing on all cylinders during this stretch, there are 4 key players who have really been stepping it up.
In this piece, we will go into those players and how they have individually contributed during this recent surge:
Boston Celtics player No. 1) Robert Williams
Robert Williams is on pace to have a career year this season.
If he keeps playing at the rate he’s playing now, he’ll set new career highs in points, rebounds, assists, blocks, and field goal percentage.
That said, not only is he playing better in 2021-22, but during the C’s hot streak, he’s solidified himself as the second-best defender on the team.
He has a +/- of +14.8, the second best on the Boston Celtics and his defensive rating is at a 99.8.
In fact, in the past two games, Rob Williams has come up big with massive blocks late in the game that ultimately nabbed wins for Boston.
Not only is he playing well defensively, but the big man has been an all-out stud on offense as well.
During their surge, the young center is shooting almost 67% from the field, the best on the team. Williams is playing quite efficiently on both sides of the ball and it is clearly showing from the production of the team.
He’s also grabbing the most rebounds on the C’s with 11.1 per game with four of them being offensive rebounds.
Not only is he playing well, but he’s playing well all while playing 32 minutes a game. That’s not a small number to play day in day out within the confines of a gruesome NBA schedule.
Because of his amazing play as of late, I believe the star center has solidified his spot on the team.
During an interview in late January, Jayson Tatum said, “I just love when Rob plays“.
Since the team wants to build around the young stars of Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown and, obviously, should not look to split them apart, I don’t think Williams is going anywhere anytime soon.
Boston Celtics player No. 2) Jaylen Brown
Not a big surprise here, but Jaylen Brown has been balling out all season long and especially during the past ten games to keep the Boston Celtics hot.
Brown had been struggling with injuries earlier this season, but ever since he came back fully healthy, he’s been showing the league how great he really is.
The 2022 All-Star snub has been playing great on offense, putting up 23 points per game on 46% shooting. While his 3-point shot has been off a bit (31%), he still manages to drive to the hoop and assert himself at the rim as a dominant presence.
When the young star does that, it opens up a lot of opportunities to help his team in more ways than scoring. Driving to the rim will attract defenders since he is so consistent at the rim, which allows him to make passes to other open players and gather some assists.
He’s averaging only four dimes per game, but makes himself known at the rim in other ways.
When it comes to rebounding, the wing is grabbing boards at a respectable clip of seven per game over the last ten games.
During the surge that Boston is on, his best game arguably was the blowout win against the Sacramento Kings where he had 30 points on 58% shooting in under 24 minutes.
He added on ten boards and three assists that game, but more impressive, zero turnovers.
As the season continues, it would be great to see Jaylen Brown continue making big strides, as he does every single year.
Boston Celtics player No. 3) Jayson Tatum
Another not-so-big surprise here, as the Boston Celtics All-Star forward has been crucial in the success of the team. After a slow start to the season, Jayson Tatum finally found his footing in the month of January, averaging a whopping 27 points per game.
During the C’s surge, Tatum has been consistent with his monthly average points-wise, averaging 27 per game on 47% shooting. One thing that JT excels at is driving to the rim to score.
While he may not average as many free throws as he should (only six per game) when he drives to the basket he is more likely to score rather than when hoisting a jump-shot.
In fact, over 43% of the All-Stars points come from inside the paint, and over 50% come from inside the 3-point arc. That isn’t to say he can’t shoot the long ball, even though he’s been struggling with that one aspect of his game recently (32%), but the young stud is contributing more to the team than just scoring.
Along with his point totals, he’s also dishing out 5.5 assists per game which is important because of the criticism he was receiving about his “inability” to play make.
On top of the assists, he’s crashing the boards well for rebounds like his counterpart, Jaylen Brown. Tatum is grabbing eight rebounds per game which helps lead to his points in the paint and helps him draw the occasional foul.
When Tatum is on the floor, he is a consistent playmaker and facilitator, which is an important part of what the team needs.
The next player, however, perfectly represents how the Boston Celtics play basketball.
Boston Celtics player No. 4) Marcus Smart
The heart and soul of the Boston Celtics is officially back from injury/health and safety protocols.
Since his return, Marcus Smart has played in six games, and the C’s are 5-1 in that time.
The defensive-minded point guard is only averaging 12 points per game since his return to the lineup, but that isn’t where he excels the most.
Defense is his true calling card.
Marcus Smart has a defensive rating of 90.2 during this stretch, the best of any starter on the team. Many people thought that Smart was going to come back from COVID protocols and play how he was playing before he went out.
Average play, unimpressive offensive facilitator, you name it.
But these last six games might have been the best six games of his career.
In his return game against Washington, he posted a +/- of +36 which included a defensive rating of 73. That is an insane defensive rating, especially the first game back from an injury.
That first game back, he had 11 points and six assists to add to that. An impressive first game back.
The next game, he decided to come out and again post a +/- of +36, but this time he didn’t score — instead, he dished out seven assists and only turned the ball over three times.
The C’s then played the Atlanta Hawks and lost, but once again the defensive wizard was the talk of the game because he had shut out the dynamic Trae Young all game.
Young failed to score one single point against Smart for the duration of the game.
The following contest Smart decided to dish out 12 assists to his teammates and help lead them to another much-needed victory against the New Orleans Pelicans. Then against the Heat, dropped 16 points on 67% shooting and had another big night of assists, tallying up seven.
Marcus Smart is not a bad player, even though the media likes to portray him as one.
He is vital to this Boston Celtics team and, if he keeps playing this way, it is very hard to see the front office lose when considering their rather easy schedule.
It seems like the team, and Smart, are clicking at the right time to make a run for a top-flight seed in the Eastern Conference.