There Is A Growing Case That We May Be Currently Witnessing One Of The Greatest Celtics Teams Ever Assembled

Nathaniel S. Butler. Getty Images.

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As the Celtics begin a 10 game stretch where 9 of those games are on National TV, where most are against pretty good teams who are playing some good basketball at the moment

This means a few things for Celtics fans. First, it means we're going to have to hear the networks and national broadcasts who most definitely do not watch every dribble of this team try and tell us about them and who they actually are. That's always fun. We're going to hear all the same cliches about 3P volume, Tatum/Brown coexisting, do they have the killer instinct, is Joe Mazzulla going to hold them back blah blah blah. You know what I'm talking about.

It also means RIP to games starting on time. Essentially 3 straight weeks of games that will not be starting when we are told they will start. That's annoying as fuck. 

Finally, it also means that the perception and narrative of the Celts will go one way or the other. At the moment, they are a certified wagon. Best team in the league and it's not even remotely close. 45-12 overall, a +10.3 point differential, best home record, best road record, most wins against teams .500 or better, fewest losses to teams under .500, lead the league in 3PM and post up offense, the list goes on and on.

A bad stretch here, and there will be some who will be quick to discard a lot of that. But a good stretch? I for one am excited to see how the Celts handle a stretch with constant challenges because we know they can handle stretches of bad teams

This is really the final tune up stretch before the load management will most likely start as well as the schedule getting a lot easier to end the season, so a good stretch here is both important, and another opportunity to show the world you are ready. Given how the Celts are playing right now, it's a great chance to put the final stamp on this season and then rest up until the playoffs.

To start the post ASB with back to back blowout road wins when you were coming off a 50 point home win to enter the break, it's hard to have too many complaints. If this is the time of year where I'm to believe teams lock in and everyone starts trying for real, I'd say so far things look pretty great.

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How great? Oh I dunno, how about one of the greatest Celtics teams to perhaps ever exist??

The Good

- If there is one player who came back from the break ready to play, it's Jaylen Brown. Back to back solid performances on the road, it's no surprise that he set the tone early last night

And for a guy who entered the break on a brutal outside shooting slump (22% over his final 12 games), we saw Jaylen start this second half a more than acceptable 6-14 (42%). In fact his 25.5/6.5/4.0/1.0/0.5 on 55/42% splits since the games started up again has been pretty much exactly what you need from a player in Jaylen's role. 

What this game ultimately came down to is something that is a constant theme for whoever finds themselves playing the Boston Celtics in a competitive basketball game. If you do not have the size and the length to contain Jaylen Brown or Jayson Tatum, you pretty much don't stand a chance. This is not just a Knicks thing, this is an any team in the NBA thing. It's no surprise that the teams that have given the Celts trouble this season have elite perimeter defenders at the wing positions. Even with Randle and OG back, that is still an issue for the Knicks. It's why this matchup is now 4-0. 

When Jaylen knows he has the speed and size advantage on you, there's almost no way to guard him. If you get too close, he's by you and at the rim. If he chooses, he can take you into the post where you're not going to block his fadeaway, a shot he leads the NBA in terms of efficiency. His improved passing now makes him more of a threat once he gets past his primary defender, especially on possessions where KP is on the floor. 

Brunson, Josh Hart, DiVincenzo are all players who I would consider good defenders, but in this specific matchup, they're just too small. So with the bigger bodies out, it shouldn't be a surprise that Jaylen went off for an efficient 30. It's the same problem the Bulls had the game before, and it's the same problem nearly every team in the league faces. 

- Here's what I mean. You just watched Jaylen bully people, well guess what's coming with the other hand? Jayson Tatum.

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Same problem here. It's a pick your poison situation. Which wing do you throw your "better" defender at? OK cool, you chose Jaylen, no biggie here's an unguardable All NBA wing on the other end who can now get whatever he wants. 

This is what the entire foundation of this era of Celtics basketball is built around. Being able to solve the two elite wing puzzle is not something a lot of rosters across the league are currently built to do, and we are now watching two players get closer and closer to their NBA prime years, and look at what is happening. They are destroying teams. 

Of course, all the talk will be about Tatum "only" having 19/6/6 or whatever, but this is part of that National TV noise bullshit I mentioned at the top of the blog. Ignore it. What we care about is the fact that Tatum still controlled the game and made a winning impact. I'll take this Tatum performance every day of the week and twice on Sundays. Engaged defensively, he was efficient, he was unselfish, and he played 43 minutes. 

- The matchup issues between these two teams certainly doesn't stop at the wing position. Unfortunately for the Knicks, they also don't really have an answer for Porzingis either

Even with Mitchell Robinson out, you'll remember the last time KP was at MSG Mitchell Robinson played and he had 30 with a billion 3PM. This is yet another issue that is not only a Knicks problem, but a rest of the league problem as well. Let's say you are a team with an elite rim protecting center, well, KP has now forced you to bring that guy out to 35 ft. If you decide to get cute and not do that and maybe send a smaller player out there to check him, OK no biggie, now you have to handle the #1 post played in the NBA who has about a 1.5ft advantage over anyone else on your roster. 

So what did we see last night? 22/4/4 on 7-11 (3-4) shooting in his 31 minutes. It's a cheat code, I don't really know how else to say it. Remember, as a defense you're already stressed as hell having to worry about Tatum/Brown, and then the Celts are throwing Porzingis at you, that has to be a little overwhelming. 

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- There still seems to be this constant debate over what is actually the right offensive approach the Celts should take if they want to win a title, and I'm not really sure why. It really seems pretty obvious what this team looks like when they are playing at their ceiling, and I thought last night was a great example.

The #1 thing that has made the 2023-24 Celtics different is their diversified offense. Basically Porzingis. Before, we saw a lot of read and react basketball, where the hope would be to move the ball, drive the ball, force the defense to rotate and kick out for an open 3PA. While effective, there was a high level of variance in that approach. 

Now, while the 2023-24 Celts will have that same read and react approach where they move the ball, drive the ball, and force the defense to rotate so they can kick it out for three, they also have a way to score that has a much lower variance. The addition of Porzingis, and the increase frequency of both of the Jays out of the post has changed the dynamic of this offense. Being able to do that in a playoff series IS A MUST. Nobody who has watched this team should disagree with that.

Take last night for example. The Celts destroyed the Knicks in terms of points in the paint early. Everything was at the rim and they were finishing at a high rate. Being able to recognize a mismatch and execute against it is important in a playoff series. But, despite this great production on 2s, the Knicks still were able to hang around, because they were responding with 3PM.

This is where the other half of the Celts offensive approach argument comes in. For the Celts to be at their best, they need to take 3s. A roster built with this many shooters needs to shoot. It's no surprise that this game exploded the second the Celts remembered that 3P volume is important. That is their knockout punch. When you can go 4-5 straight possessions with a different player on the court making 3s, you become an avalanche. It's prime Warriors Dynasty shit. 

So the answer to the question of "what should the Celts offensive approach be" is pretty simple.

The answer is both.

When there are opportunities to exploit mismatches, by being aggressive or playing through the post. The Celtics should (and do) do it. When there are opportunities for an open 3PA, the Celtics should (and do) take it without hesitation. It is not a one or the other situation which is what you so often here. You can take a lot of 3PA and still have the best post offense in the NBA. We know this because the Celtics are currently doing it, and THAT is what is different this year.

- Remember that game before the break against the Wizards where the Celts allowed 129 points and oculdn't stop a nosebleed? Well since that moment, the Celts have allowed at least 30 points in a quarter just 4 times in their last 20 games played. While nobody would ever suggest their recent run of opponents are elite offenses, the defense has locked in for the last 5 games.

Last night, it was a huge reason of why the Celts were able to build their big league in the first place. Making threes is cool, but making threes coming off getting stops is even cooler

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I was so impressed with Jrue's defensive showing in this game. His hands are everywhere it seems, whether it's in transition or while taking on a guy in isolation or even as a help defender. A ball hawk is the best way I would describe him. He's strong enough to where he can take on the initial contact and not lose balance, and that enables him to be ready for a perfectly timed steal attempt where he gets to a ball that the offensive player had no clue he'd be able to get to. It's tremendous stuff.

I also love Tatum taking on the Brunson responsibility defensively. Once that happened, Brunson wasn't really all that much of a factor like he was in the first half. When your best player who hadn't taken many shots that night is willing to make that type of defensive commitment, that matters.

- Al Horford remains perfect. Not much else needs to be said there.

- It seems small, but at the time I thought the rebounding of both Sam Hauser and Payton Pritchard was pretty damn important. Pritchard on the offensive glass, Hauser on the defensive glass, those were all what I would call "in the balance" type of plays that helped secured the win. Those are the 50/50 winning plays that you have to make on the road if you want to win, and seeing it come from the two bench shooters was great. 

The Bad

- I'm going to continue to blog about it as long as it's going to be a problem, and that's the offensive glass. Another game with an opponent finishing with 15 OREB, which were good for 18 2nd chance points. Now here's the thing, I'm no dummy. I know the Knicks are one of the best offensive rebounding teams in the NBA, even without Mitchell Robinson. 

But that's why this bothers me. If I know that, I imagine the team and the players know that, which I would think would have you even more locked in when it came to finishing off defensive possessions cleanly. Instead, I still saw a whole bunch of standing and watching. I saw a lack of boxing out lead to tap outs. 

The concern here is this is the area that we know plagues the Celts in playoff games they end up losing where they had no business doing so. Giving good teams extra possessions is asking to be buried. I know the Celts have been one of the best rebounding teams all year, which again is why it annoys me when this stuff happens. We're now well over a month of the Celt being among the worst teams in the entire league in opponent OREB average. It has to be cleaned up.

In a playoff game, the difference between entering the half up 12 compared to up 4 all because you couldn't rebound is MASSIVE. 

So if you were to ask me of one main concern I still have despite being 45-12, it's this. 

- It had been a while since I've truly been enraged with a Scott Foster fuckery game but boy was last night a classic. Zero consistency, got baited into way too many calls, stopped a Knicks fastbreak to call a tech, just a disaster of a performance all around.

- I'm totally fine in moments where Jaylen might be on a run to let him handle an end of quarter possession. He's shown enough growth in that department to warrant those chances when he's on the floor.

My issue is more what the team runs when they find themselves in that situation. For example, this ain't it

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I don't love one guy doing a whole lot of dribbling and everyone else just sort of standing around, which doesn't make the defense rotate and the next thing you know it's the Knicks who are scoring before the half. If you get the ball with 25 seconds left in a quarter, you need to be the only one who is taking a shot. Period. So not only did I not love the playcall, I didn't love the timing either.

Perhaps it's not realistic to expect in that moment, but the play there is probably to kick it to Derrick in the corner once it was pretty clear McBride was reaching in, but it's not as if there was a ton of space there. Either way, gross way to end the half.

- Horrific shooting to end this game, thank god the defense did their part. I mean this is as gross a quarter as you'll ever see

Up 13 entering the final frame, I usually tell myself in those spots "OK, just don't lose the quarter by 14" and I feel pretty good. I mean we don't often see the Celts lose quarters by 14 points. But then after missing their first 4 shots you start to get a little nervous. Now it's down to 9 with plenty of time left and it feels like the Celts haven't scored in years. I consider it a tribute to Celts teams of the past if we're being honest. This year's group way of showing their respect to those who came before them.

Because this team responds. No Joe timeout worked out well and the Celts immediately responded to get the lead back up to 16, but the bigger point is I would very much appreciate not having 29/0% 4th quarters with 3 TOs. I mean 2-13 (0-6) from the Jays is pretty brutal, thank God for Al Horford. 

The Ugly

- Sorry, perks of 8 wins in a row. We won't be back until they lose again.

The Celts now enter a nice little two day break before a 3 game homestand with all the momentum in the world. Whatever you hoped they would look like coming back from the break, I think it's fair to say they've met expectations. The wagon has continued to roll on and is showing no signs of slowing down. Just get me to Tuesday night.