Celtics Rebound With Improved Defense
Courtesy: The Boston Globe
By James Kwon 11/30/2016
The Celtics have won seven of their last ten games, and the luck of the Irish has nothing to do with it. The men in green have gotten back to their winning ways the hard way-by refining their defense and rebounding.
The defense has been an issue all year for this team, but that curse seems to have lifted. The Celtics have prevented opposing teams from scoring triple digits in six of their last ten wins. They kept the Warriors to 104 points which is almost 14 points below their season total, and shut down the Mavericks as Dallas scored an abysmal 83 points.
The biggest change has been Marcus Smart’s and Al Horford’s health. The two finally came back from their respective injuries, and have been giving the league a dose of their rugged defense. Horford can supply his 2.6 blocks per game and Smart has been back to shutting down opposing guard play, something that is especially important in today’s game.
More needs to be seen from Amir Johnson, who is not doing a good job protecting the rim of defending his position, averaging only .6 blocks per game as a starting power forward. However, with Kelly Olynyk back in the lineup, this issue can be alleviated with a simple substitution.
The rebounding has improved in recent wins, which is mostly due to Horford and Olynyk seeing more of the floor. The two average a little more than 11 rebounds together, which is decent considering that Olynyk isn’t even starting yet. Horford has looked more like he did in Atlanta, and can be relied upon now to put up a fight down low against any opposing big.
However, the frontcourt has its flaws. Right now the teams rebounding leader is Avery Bradley, who stands at 6’ 2”. This can be blamed on, once again, Amir Johnson. He is almost seven feet tall, and is grabbing less rebounds than even Marcus Smart, another point guard. He is the starting power forward, and two point guards on the team are outrebounding him. It is reasonable to question if he deserves to be starting or be on the team at all. Starting Kelly Olynyk would drastically help rebounding as a combo of Horford and Olynyk in the paint is hard matchup for any team.
Their 10-7 record puts them one game behind the division leader Toronto Raptors. The team is looking more like the Celtics we are used to seeing, but one thing that can propel them past the Raptors is free throws.
The team’s 20.4 free throw attempts per game is good for 25th in the league. Isiah Thomas accounts for almost half of those alone, as he is averaging 9.1 attempts per game. More is needed from Horford and Johnson to get to the line as their starting bigs.
Once the opposing big men are in foul trouble, then the Celtic’s top tier offense can have even more of a field day. Not only are free throws easy points, but they open up more opportunities for scoring, and the defense will have an easier time if the opposition’s more talented players are in foul trouble. Kelly Olynyk is shooting 86 percent from the line this year, another case for him to be starting.
Bench Amir Johnson, and the rest should fall in place.