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The Celtics Were Good Again, Until They Weren’t

Welcome to today’s symposium. The main topic: “when should I start to worry about the Celtics?” The answer is quite simple:

In other words, very soon. Very, very soon. With every godawful loss suffered by the Celtics this year, the sentiment gets louder and louder, while the old, “they’ll figure it out, eventually” motto is getting softer and softer. Those mumblings of early season blues are starting to turn into solely blues. Though, as I reminded you, nobody felt that way nearly 24 hours before the Utah Jazz ran the Celtics’ starters off the floor.

It looked like the Celtics season was about to turn on its head. With only a minute left in regulation, and with a chance to take a commanding six point advantage, Pascal Siakam set a screen at the top of the arc for Kyle Lowry forcing Jayson Tatum and Kyrie Irving to switch. Lowry drove Tatum to the box where he was smothered by his length. With nowhere to go he quickly forced a pass to Deon Wright on the baseline which was easily sniffed out by Gordon Hayward. Seconds later a discombobulated Raptors D left Jayson Tatum a wide open driving lane to the rim and the second year player slammed it home (look at him getting to the rim for once). 107-105, Toronto.

On the next possession, a tough fadeaway from Kawhi Leonard clanked off the rim, and Siakam was called for an over-the-back. Hayward sunk the free throws, Leonard missed a game winner, and the Celtics put the game away in over time improving to 9-6 on the season.

In that fourth quarter and overtime, the Celtics became the team we thought they’d be. Defensively, they put the Raptors in difficult positions to score because of their versatility, length and ability to communicate (That part wasn’t surprising. The Celtics have had a top 3 defensive unit all year. They’re third in points per game, and first in overall defensive rating.). Offensively, Kryie took over, the Celtics spread the floor and attacked the paint, finding easy buckets against a tough Raptors defense.

The Celtics put up a 114.5 offensive rating against the East leading Raptors, a number that would rank third in the entire league. They did it by doing one thing they have failed to do all season, attack the bucket. Time after time Kyrie Irving found his way into the paint down the stretch, either drawing a foul or laying it home. But the impact of getting to the rack was more profound than just the points Kyrie was able to score. It’s funny; just a little penetration opened up an entirely new world for these Celtics. Who would’ve thought?

If you take note of the play above, you’ll notice a wide open Gordon Hayward and Jayson Tatum just standing by the arc. This play just as easy could have been a kick-out to a wide open three point shooter. It’s simple effective basketball, but it’s something the Celtics haven’t really done all season. The Celtics rank 3rd to last in the league in FGA within 5ft of the basket per game and 4th last in the league FGA per game from within 5-9ft of the basket. If you’re not actually going to score in the paint, there’s no reason to actually defend the paint. It’s why the Celtics, despite having above average three point shooting at every position in their starting lineup are shooting a marginal 34.5% which is tied for 19th in the league. Creating that threat is key to revamping their offense. And while Kyrie Irving did most of the dirty work against the Raptors, the Celtics have other creators who can do much of the same. I’m looking at you Jayson Tatum. For one game, the Celtics put it all together, and figured out how to play offense. They were good again. The team that was supposed to be “The Team” in the East was finally playing like it.

And then all of that came crashing down just 24 hours later with a pitiful showing against the lifeless Utah Jazz. Fresh off a season high 123 points against the Toronto Raptors the Celtics poured in an ugly 86 points, shooting 38.5% from the field and 15% from beyond the arc. Defensive breakdowns, turnovers, missed free throws, and bad offensive possessions all killed the Celtics at times. With just under 9 minutes to go in the fourth quarter, trailing by 19, Brad Stevens inserted Guerschon Yabusele, Daniel Theis, and Brad Wanamaker. Tatum didn’t play for the last 16 minutes of the game. It was the type of performance that has you wondering whether or not these Celtics can actually put it together.

The Celtics followed their best game of the season with their worst. Good teams don’t do that. Great teams find ways to win without their fastball. The Celtics’ championship aspirations were based on versatility. Not just on the offensive and defensive sides of the ball, but also in the win column. This team was supposed to be able to win games in different ways. So far they’ve just found a lot of ways to lose games in different ways. Al Horford, via NBC Sports Boston, said, after the game, “[Toughness is] something that always needs to be there. It’s the Celtic way, the way that you want to play and the things that you want to do and set the tone. Right now, we’re picking our spots for when we want to be and do that.” Whether Al’s right, remains to be seen. Is this team picking spots, or is this just what they are? Either way, Brad Stevens and his talented Boston Celtics are facing a new question going forward. No longer can we continue to ask, “how will they figure it out?” That question is getting old for this debacle. It’s time to start asking, “can they figure it out?”