Surging Celtics Defying Expectations With Surprisingly Elite Performance
At first glance, the Boston Celtics’ 2-3 record doesn’t seem overly impressive. They started 0-3 for the first time in over a decade, and one of their victories came against a winless New Orleans Pelicans squad that was missing Zion Williamson.
If you look under the hood, however, you’ll see that the Celtics have actually played pretty good basketball, especially lately. And they’re only getting better.
For starters, their three losses were by a combined 17 points, so they’ve yet to be blown out this year. Their first loss was by only one point, so they could easily be 3-2 instead.
In fact, Boston’s outscored its opponents by 35 points this year, including a dominant 20-point victory over the Cleveland Cavaliers. Its +7.3 net rating ranks sixth in the NBA.
That’s because the Celtics have quietly been one of the best teams in basketball on both ends of the floor despite losing a massive amount of talent over the offseason.
On defense, they’ve allowed the second-fewest points per game (behind only the San Antonio Spurs) and rank seventh in defensive rating. Meanwhile, Boston ranks 10th in offensive rating.
The Celtics are one of just three teams in the top 10 for both offensive and defensive rating entering play on Thursday. The other two are the Denver Nuggets and Miami Heat.
Offensively, Boston is shooting a lot of threes and taking care of the basketball. The Celtics lead the NBA in 3-point attempts and fewest turnovers committed.
Defensively, Boston has allowed the league’s lowest field goal percentage. The Celtics are playing hard on defense, closing out on shooters, protecting the paint and rotating when needed.
If Boston keeps playing well on both sides of the ball, that will be a recipe for helping Joe Mazzulla’s squad surpass expectations this year.