The Boston Celtics are continuing to impress day in and day out with their tremendous production on the hardwood and now, through the early stages of March, they find themselves boasting an undefeated record of 4-0.
Of course, this winning stretch has proven to be very much the norm for the ball club since the start of 2022 for, during this span, they’ve seen numerous streaks of similar magnitude and are a stellar 23-8 since the calendar page flipped to January.
Now, while a ton of attention for the C’s mid-season turnaround has gone to the likes of franchise cornerstones Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown–and rightly so, may we add–, ultimately their ascension up the Eastern Conference totem pole has been a result of a collective effort.
Unfortunately, with this rather unfair balance of praise and spotlight being solely shifted towards the direction of the Jays, it has left some players’ impacts semi-unnoticed by the media and, shockingly, even some fans (casuals, anyway).
In order to give credit where credit is due, today we at HH would like to pinpoint 3 players, in specific, that we believe have been somewhat underrated during the team’s second-half hot-stretch:
Underrated Boston Celtics player No. 1) Grant Williams
Though the tides seem to be changing as of late, for the longest time Grant Williams‘s excellence throughout this year’s campaign was going wildly under-the-radar.
Right from the jump, it was evident that the third-year pro was going to be someone rookie head coach, Ime Udoka, would lean heavily on, even getting the starting nod against the New York Knicks on opening day where the forward would drop 15 points, five boards, four assists, one steal, and one block on an incredible 60 percent shooting from deep to aid in Boston’s hard-fought win.
Now, as we all know, from that contest through late December we went on to see the Celtics struggle mightily to muster up wins, constantly dipping below .500 and seeing themselves towards the bottom of the conference standings.
And while there are many reasons for why this team endured such a lackluster first couple of months to the season, Williams was unequivocally never one of them.
In fact, throughout, he has been one of the club’s most trusty contributors on both sides of the ball.
Though he may not be a star by any sense of the word, the 23-year-old has proven himself to be one of, if not the best young prospect within Boston’s rotation as he has shown that he’s willing to do just about anything in order to benefit the team.
From his long-range shooting to his defensive versatility, Williams is a low-key all-around contributor for this C’s squad despite lacking size for an NBA power forward (measure in at 6-6).
Through 62 games played, Williams finds himself boasting career numbers seemingly all across the board, with per-game averages of 7.7 points, 3.4 rebounds, one assist, and just shy of a block on nearly 49 percent shooting from the floor and a team-high 43.5 percent shooting from deep.
Thanks to his grit, grind, hustle, solid defensive chops, and sound floor-spacing abilities, this season Grant Williams has gone on to receive comparisons to the likes of veteran forward P.J. Tucker which, frankly, should be viewed as a major compliment for the former first-round pick.
Underrated Boston Celtics player No. 2) Al Horford
Al Horford may not be putting up the same numbers that he was during his perennial All-Star days, but that doesn’t mean his impact on the club during his return campaign hasn’t been a key factor to the team’s in-season turnaround.
Though early on in the campaign the 15-year-veteran was viewed by many as somewhat of a liability for the Boston Celtics, specifically in the scoring department where he struggled mightily with efficiency (shot just 44 percent from the field and 29 percent from deep during the first two months of action), since the team started on their post-New Year’s endeavors, slowly but surely his offensive production has managed to inch it’s way closer to his high-end defensive play.
Particularly over the team’s last 19 contests, Horford has had his hand in many facets of the game for the shamrocks, boasting solid all-around averages of 9.4 points, 8.4 rebounds, 2.9 assists, and 1.4 blocks on 46 percent shooting from the floor and 40 percent shooting from deep while also sporting a +12.7 plus-minus rating during this span where they have gone 16-3.
On top of this, since the All-Star break, the big man has seemingly become even more effective in regard to his per-game numbers, averaging 11.8 points, nine boards, 3.3 assists, one steal, and nearly two blocks on an impressive 52 percent shooting from the floor and 43 percent shooting from deep.
The team has gone 6-1 during this stretch, with their lone loss coming during the outing where Horford didn’t even wind up playing.
With him on the floor, the C’s are 37-21 and, without him, they’re a mere 4-6.
Be it due to the fact that he’s gobbling up boards at his highest rate since 2013, is shooting at the second-highest rate of his career from inside the arc (57 percent), or is swatting shots away at a career-high percentage of 4.3, there’s no doubt that Al Horford has been one of the main factors for Boston’s current hot-stretch.
Underrated Boston Celtics player No. 3) Marcus Smart
Despite the fact that Marcus Smart has played like a high-end starting point guard during the C’s current hot stretch, we’ve seen many fans (some of whom have taken to our own comment sections) still looking to chastise the veteran as being someone that Boston can’t win with as their starting floor general.
To this, especially in regard to how he’s been playing of late, we at HH say fooey!
One of the major issues fans have had with Smart throughout the past several seasons has been his unwillingness to pass and his unwanted willingness to chuck up shots.
Over the last several months, however, the guard has seemingly dialed it back in the attempts department and, instead, has focused more on seeking out cleaner looks for himself as well as finding scoring opportunities for others.
Since returning from his ankle injury in early January that sidelined him for a little over a week, Marcus Smart has found himself playing some of the best basketball of his career.
During this 19-game span, the eighth-year veteran is finding himself putting up impressive averages of 12.6 points, 6.4 assists, 3.7 rebounds, and 1.2 steals on 46 percent shooting from the floor and nearly 37 percent shooting from deep while boasting the second-best plus-minus rating on the team (13.1).
During this stretch, Boston has only lost three times, one of which the guard didn’t even wind up suiting up for.
If we wish to dive even deeper into Marcus Smart’s season as a whole, we find that he’s absolutely producing at some of the most efficient rates of his NBA tenure, with examples including a 24.7 assist percentage (career-best), his 4.5 win shares (second-best of his career), and a 1.6 defensive box plus-minus rating (second-best of his career).
Of course, speaking of defense, one must also not gloss over the fact that, once again, we find Smart serving as arguably the C’s best option on this side of the ball, which is even more impressive than it has been in years past when considering the fact that Boston finds itself currently ranked as the best defensive unit in the entire association.
In virtually every aspect of the game, the 27-year-old has truly been one of the most pivotal contributors for this team’s turnaround and, still, we find people looking to call him out as being a player the C’s can’t vie for a championship with.
Put it like this: the Boston Celtics have played 10 games without Marcus Smart this year.
They’ve gone 3-7 in these outings.
With him in the lineup, they’re 37-20.
In 2021-22, Marcus Smart running point for this lineup (assuming everyone’s healthy) gives the Celtics their best chance of winning.
As seen above, it’s simple math, folks!