Defense There, But Celtics Offense Still Not Where it Needs to Be

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The Boston Celtics have looked like a different team since General Manager Danny Ainge gave the team ten games to turn it around less than a week ago. Well, we can chalk up the game that followed Ainge’s announcement versus the Phoenix Suns as the Celtics offense being in complete shock by the remarks and this ultimately led to a measly 71 point effort against a well-below average defense. There have been signs of life from the Green since then, as they were able to gut out a victory over the hapless Washington Wizards in the nation’s capital on Sunday with the return of the captain we have come to love over the years, #34 Paul Pierce. And they followed that one up with a thumping of Dwight Howard and a returning Glen “Big Baby” Davis’ Orlando Magic team the next day. The last two games were impressive outings from the Celtics for a number of reasons and could be a sign of the team we have been waiting for to take form in Boston.

For one thing, the Celtics have been dealing with some nagging team injuries the last couple of games (and it looks like they will be dealing with the same problem for at least a couple of more games). While the C’s would love to have a complete team, this also gives an opportunity to the role players to show that they can indeed be more than role players when called upon. Guys like Brandon Bass, Mickael Pietrus and even Sasha Pavlovic (yes, he is still on the roster) have been able to come in and offer quality minutes that the Green have desperately needed with guys like Rajon Rondo and Ray Allen out. Another one of those players that has been beyond impressive (and as my twitter followers know, I have developed a huge man-crush on) is backup point guard Avery Bradley. Bradley has been able to step in and be a nuisance defensively for the opposing team’s top guard, and seems to never lack energy. Sure, he has not been as protective handling the ball as we would like, and the offense is far from a finished product. But, even if you are not high up on AB, you would be lying if you said you expected Bradley to perform at as high of a level as he has been able to in Rondo’s absence.

Side note: I wasn’t going to get into this because it is not what the article is about, but I just have to mention it. Say things do not end up completely turning around for this team. If you are Ainge, don’t you have to at least entertain the idea of trading Rondo after seeing what Bradley is capable of becoming. People forget, the guy is just 20 years old (4 years younger than Rondo)! You cannot tell me a team like the Memphis Grizzlies, who is really one star away from joining the elites of the Western Conference for a long time, wouldn’t be willing to give up 2 -3 quality young pieces/draft picks for Rondo. Yes, you are gambling a bit on Bradley, but you wouldn’t need him to be Rondo, you would just need him to be a dependable starting PG (not to mention, at a MUCH lower price). It would be a win-win if you can deal with the idea of seeing this team not built around Rondo for the years to come. But I digress…

The other key to the revival of the dead has been a return to old routes. In the game at Washington, not only did Pierce go off, but Kevin Garnett put up a respectable 17 and then the two stars did it again the next day like it was 2008 all over again. We also saw a team remember how to win a close game in the 4^th quarter as they have done so well in past years, and a Celtics group put up by far the best defensive effort in the NBA this season with a depleted team on the back end of a back to back against an Eastern Conference contender. Maybe things have finally clicked for Paul Pierce to a point where we can expect a strong output from “The Truth” night in and night out. And maybe Kevin Garnett has made it his own personal mission to prove all the nay-sayers wrong about how his legs are failing him.

However, one thing that should never be questioned about this Celtics team is the defense they are capable of playing. They reminded all of us that by holding a respectable Orlando Magic offense to a franchise low 56…56 points. The Celtics defense ranks 3^rd in the NBA in opponent’s points per game, 6^th in defensive efficiency and 9^th in opponent’s shooting. Defense has never been the issue for the group, and, if anything, has brought them even closer to a return to championship form. There is just one (MAJOR) component that is holding this team back…

The Celtics offense is still subpar and far from championship caliber. No matter how well a team plays defensively, it still needs to score to win ball games, and the Celtics offense at times has not shown that they can do this. There have certainly been flashes of excellence on the offensive end, and maybe with the recent play of Pierce and Garnett this article will be null and void a couple of weeks from now. But the numbers do not lie. The Celtics offense as a whole needs to improve for this team to hang Banner 18.

89.4- The Celtics offense has only been able to score 89.4 points per game this season. To put this into perspective, the 2007-2008 Boston Celtics championship team scored 99 points per game (including the playoffs). Even last year, the Celtics offense was able to score more than 96 points per game. And before everyone jumps all over me saying that scoring is down league-wide with the condensed season and whatnot, maybe the ranking is even more useful. The Celtics offense ranks 26^th in the league in the scoring department this season with just the Washington Wizards, New Orleans Hornets, Toronto Raptors and Detroit Pistons behind them. Not exactly playoff teams by anyone’s account.

13^th- At exactly 45% shooting from the field, the Boston Celtics offense ranks close to the middle of the pack. The percentage and the ranking is nothing to be ashamed of, even for a team with championship aspirations. Teams like the Los Angeles Lakers and the Indiana Pacers to name a couple find themselves behind the Celtics in this category. However, if we go back to what made this Celtics offense a championship offense in 2007-2008, the Celtics were 5^th in this category that year and were above the rest at number one last year.

27^th & 29^th- Whether it is a lack of preparation at the beginning of games or fatigue at the end of games, the Celtics offense ranks 27^th in points scored in the 1^st quarter and 29^th in points scored in the 4^th quarter. It is almost amazing that the Celtics have been able to hover around the .500 mark with rankings like that. With just 20.6 points per game in the 1^st quarter, only the Pistons, Nets and Raptors have scored fewer than the Celtics offense. And at a lackluster 20.9 points per game in the 4^th quarter, just the Pistons offense trails the Celtics offense for worst in the league in that department.

The facts are the facts. Nobody is going to argue that this team is ready defensively to win another NBA championship and the stats prove this point. On the other hand, this article doesn’t even get into the fact that the Celtics offense ranks 20^th in offensive efficiency, dead last in offensive rebounding and in the middle of the pack in the majority of assists/turnovers categories. The Celtics offense is bad right now. Pure and simple.

Be cautiously optimistic Celtics fans. Things are turning around for the better, but the turnaround is far from complete. One thing that there really is no ranking for that we are all praying that we see from this team may be the key to everything. And that, my friends, is consistency. But that is another whole article in itself…

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