The Boston Celtics Look Like The Best Basketball Team On The Planet
Winslow Townson. Getty Images.5 in a row and 6 of their last 7.
You can look all you want today, you will not find a team with a longer current winning streak than the Boston Celtics. After taking down the Nuggets at home last night to move to 9-3 on the young season, the Boston Celtics currently look like the best team on the planet. Yeah, I know the Bucks are 10-2, but I also know they've played 9 teams under .500 in their first 12 games and of those 9, a total of 7 of them have come against teams that found themselves in the lottery last season.
The point is, there is not a hotter team in the NBA right now. For a team that we all were saying had to get off to a great start given what happened last year, that's exactly what is happening. Mind you, they're doing this all without one of their most important two way pieces and one of their main offseason additions shredded his knee about two months before the season started.
We're seeing a version of the Celts that is legitimately historic on the offensive end. Nobody in the history of the NBA has seen anything like this
What does this all look like? Well, pick your poison
It is becoming clearer and clearer by the game that there are almost no teams in the league that are equipped to handle the firepower of this version of the Celts over a full 48 minutes. It hasn't really mattered who they've played, nobody has come close to limiting this offense.
What we're seeing is a combination of Joe's approach
and the continued development of the two best players in Tatum and Brown, who find themselves as the highest scoring duo in the entire NBA. They're averaging a combined 56 a game, which is pretty fucking ridiculous. Last night they had another 59 combined points while shooting 22-36 (5-11) from the floor. They've been unstoppable. The way Tatum has evolved his approach and is more aggressive which has led to a FTA average that we all dreamed of. Jaylen is off to an All NBA start of his own, and when your two best players set the tone like this, of course everyone else is going to follow.
From there, everyone else is falling into their role. Marcus Smart is playing about as perfect as you could possibly want at the point guard position. Over his lasf 4 games we're seeing him total 38 assists and 5 TOs. Those numbers would be even better if he didn't have 5 fouls last night, only playing 23 minutes. Even in that limited time he still finished with 4 assists, 1 TO and just 4 FGA.
Do people understand how ridiculous a 38:5 assist to turnover ratio is?????????????
That's basically Chris Paul shit. You wanted playmaking? You wanted unselfish play? Well just like we saw last year, you're getting an even BETTER version of it from Smart this year.
Then you look at the rest of the role guys, and it's clear they understand what they have to do in order to maximize their opportunity and contribute to winning, and it's just punch after punch after punch of talent. Guys like Al, Brogdon, Grant, Derrick, Hauser and shit even fucking Payton Pritchard are filling their roles to near perfection while making a real, tangible impact. We're seeing that opposing teams simply cannot match this talent over the course of a game to the point where your bench guys are basically giving starter level production. That's hard for opposing second units to deal with on a consistent basis.
What's scary is they still aren't defending anywhere CLOSE to their potential, even without Rob. Maybe this is just how things are going to be in the NBA this year because it feels like everyone is scoring a shit ton of points every night, but that's why you should be excited as a Celts fan. There are still more levels to go, even before Rob gets back.
Imagine what happens when this team does get to add Rob? Everything he gives them in terms of vertical spacing on offense combined with his offensive rebounding and passing, and then having that elite back line defender on defense? I mean holy shit.
This is where by law I HAVE to remind you that it is November 12th. The NBA season is not determined by what happens over the first 12 games. I think we all understand that.
But there is simply no denying that the way this team is playing and how they currently look isn't the best in the league. Sorry if that offends. This entire season is about one thing, getting back to the Finals and winning the whole fucking thing. We all wanted to see them come into the year with the right focus and be locked in right from the jump. That's happening and boy does it fucking rule.
Tonight they have a chance to take this streak to 6 with another matchup against the Pistons, and as long as they stay focused and avoid the trap game I don't see this thing ending anytime soon.