There is no question the Boston Celtics are among the top contenders for the NBA championship this season. They have shown all year long that their play at both ends of the floor is at an extremely high level, and their league-leading 48-13 record speaks for itself.
While Boston looks unstoppable right now, there are still plenty of ways they can improve. Their fourth-quarter collapse against the Cleveland Cavaliers on Tuesday night showed us that. Luckily, Head Coach Joe Mazzulla is highly innovative and can do a lot to improve their weaknesses between now and the start of the playoffs.
Here we will look at three obvious moves as well as two other subtle ones Mazzulla can make to help the Celtics level up even more.
Obvious: Play top 6 more
The Celtics have been near unstoppable with everyone healthy and in the rotation this season. They have been taking care of business on a consistent basis, and are currently 22-1 against below .500 teams. They are the runaway favorite to win the Eastern Conference in most people's eyes.
So what is possibly the biggest improvement they can make? Simply putting their most important players on the floor more often. Jayson Tatum, Jaylen Brown, Kristaps Porzingis, Derrick White, Jrue Holiday and Al Horford currently play the most minutes on the team.
As we head into the end of the regular season and the playoffs, those guys should begin to play an even greater percentage of the minutes Mazzulla hands out. We know that rotations shrink once the playoffs begin anyway, so Boston would do well to build the chemistry between their top players even more.