17 Surprising Facts To Honor Day 17 Without Celtics Basketball

So this is an exercise I normally only do once we get to the halfway point of the season. It's a blog of 41 stone cold facts about how the Celts have done up until that point. In fact if you want, you can read that blog here

Well now that we are on Day 17 without Celtics basketball, I figured this was the perfect opportunity to bring this idea back with 17 additional facts that help tell the story of the Celts season. Some great, some not so great, some pretty random, you get the idea. Remember, there is no bias in what you're about to read. Even if you don't like it, these are just the facts. Let's get started

1. On the season, Semi is taking a three on 61% of his FGAs. That's a higher number than Buddy Hield, James Harden, Trae Young, Devonte Graham, Terry Rozier etc

2. Kemba Walker is 7th in the NBA in charges drawn and 3rd in charges drawn per game 

3. Gordon Hayward has covered the most ground of any Celtic on the court this season at 13,633 feet (2.58 miles) while also having the fastest average speed (4.34). Guy is so back.

4. Brad Wanamaker is dead last on the Celts in terms of points per touch at 0.169. He also averages the second most seconds per touch of all regular rotation players (4.28)

5. Jayson Tatum leads the team in passes made at 2,546 yet only has 174 assists. By comparison Kemba is 2nd with 2,487 and has 247 assists

6. Grant Williams ranks in the 99th percentile in the league in terms of  post up offense averaging 1.28 points per post up possession. His post up frequency is 2nd on the team at 6.9%

7. Marcus Smart is 3rd on the team in end of the shock clock FGA and is shooting just 27% in those situations

8. Gordon Hayward is shooting 51.3% from the floor when a defender is contesting between 0-2ft. That's the best of any starter

9. Kemba Walker has a 117 Ortg / 109.3 Drtg / +7.8 net rating in clutch situations. That's better than both Jays, Hayward, and Smart

10. The Celtics are 5-5 in games decided by 3 points or less which is the most losses of any of the top 4 seeds from either conference

11. Their 14 wins against teams over .500 is tied for the 2nd most in the East

12. Jayson Tatum has improved his isolation offense this season to rank in the 73rd percentile averaging 0.99 points per possession while shooting 39.8% on 15.2% frequency. This is a big jump from his 17th percentile / 0.63 ppp / 31.6% from last season on 12.8% frequency.

13. Enes Kanter has the 6th best OREB% in the NBA at 15%. That's better than guys like Steven Adams, Andre Drummond, Dwight Howard, Hassan Whiteside, Clint Capela, DeAndre Ayton, Jarrett Allen, DeAndre Jordan, and Rudy Gobert

14. The Celtics net rating drops from +10.3 to -1.0 when Jayson Tatum steps off the floor. The next closest in terms of biggest difference is Hayward where it goes from +8.0 to +3.8

15. No team in the NBA has a better second half offense than the Celtics at a 116.2 Ortg. Their +8.0 second half net rating is the second best in the league, only outdone by MIL's +8.9

16. Grant started the season 1-26 from three making his first career three on 12/9. Since that moment he's shooting 33.9%. Before the hiatus he was currently 2 for his last 16

17. Daniel Theis has a BLK% of 43.9%. Of players who have played at least 58 games (what he has) that's better than guys like Bam Adebayo, Montrezl Harrell, Al Horford, Giannis, Jokic, Domantas Sabonis etc

Looking back over all that, some of them definitely match the eye test. Like that Wanamaker stat and the ones about their record against good teams and close games. They've shown they can beat anyone, but also sneaky stink when things get tight. The evidence that supports Tatum's leap is encouraging as is all the big men stats that tell a much different story than the narrative that the Celts need frontcourt help suggests. It's crazy that it's been 17 days since we've seen this team play, feels like 10x times that long so here's a little something to help you cope