Getty Robert Williams, Boston Celtics
The Boston Celtics win streak now stands at five games, and the team has drawn level with the Brooklyn Nets and Toronto Raptors for the sixth seed in the Eastern Conference standings.
Now, with Boston due to face the Nets on Tuesday, February 8, the team will be looking to leapfrog out of the play-in places and begin chasing home-court advantage. The team has been a ferocious defensive unit throughout Boston’s mini-run, often holding teams to under 100 points by the final whistle.
“It’s suffocating at times, with our size and versatility. We’ve got big wings, our bigs, and obviously a Pitbull for a point guard. There’s no real weakness out there, nobody to pick on, which is the case with other teams sometimes. We’re getting off to really good starts, which is different to earlier in the year, but it’s understandable with the amount of up-and-down we had earlier in the year, and it’s coming to fruition now we have some consistency back with our line-ups,” Udoka told the media after the Celtics 116-83 win against the Orlando Magic on Sunday, February 6.
Even when the Celtics were struggling earlier in the season, it was clear Udoka favored a defense-first approach to the game and wanted Boston to create an identity on that end of the floor.
Celtics Enjoying a Great Start to 2022
Since the turn of the year, the Celtics have been one of the NBA’s most in-form teams as they continue to grind out favorable results, despite often having poor shooting nights. In fact, since January 1, the Celtics sit 1st in defensive rating, 1st in net rating, and 13th in offensive rating, making them one of the best teams in the league since January 1.
The Celtics in 2022:
— 1st in net rating
— 1st in defensive rating
— 1st in opponent eFG%
— 13-6 record
— Tatum averaging 26/8/5
— Brown averaging 25/7/4
“We’re living up to our identity, and we talk about it before coming out, to jump out with the right intention early. And not give team’s hope, and to make it tough on them from the get-go. And when hold teams to 15 in the first quarter, and 13 or whatever it was last game, you’re coming out with the right mental focus and are locked in on your job,” Udoka told the press.
The Celtics have now held opponents to 100 or fewer points on 22 occasions this season, proving that Udoka’s defensive scheme is paying dividends and is arguably the cause of the Celtics’ recent resurgence following such a poor start to the year. Furthermore, Boston’s willingness to let their big men guard the perimeter has proven to be a masterstroke, as both Al Horford and Robert Williams reside in the top-20 shot-blockers this season.
You Can Hang Your Hat on Defense
The idea behind being a defense-first team is that everyone has terrible shooting nights, sometimes it’s an individual issue, and other times it’s a collective that struggles. But defense is based on effort and intensity, which you can hold yourself accountable to night in and night out.
“Shot’s aren’t always going to fall. You make the right passes and have an off-night. You can still rely on your defense. When we weren’t shooting well earlier in the year, that was kind of a mantra of ours to continue to build on our defense stay consistent until the shots start falling. As you can see in the second half, our quarters went 21, 28, 29, 38, so we continued to play the right way, make the right passes, and the shots will fall eventually, but we stayed consistent defensively,” Udoka said.
With their win over the Magic, the Celtics have now held opponents to 100 points or fewer 22 times this season.
The Celtics now find themselves ranked as the league’s fourth-best defense on the season, limiting opponents to 105.5 points per 100 possessions, which will stand them in good stead regardless of how their offense is performing. However, it’s no secret that the Celtics would like to improve their scoring output and are rumored to be hunting for a shooter leading up to the February 10 trade deadline.
While Boston’s offense undoubtedly needs an upgrade, specifically from the bench, the team has found a way to grind out wins and is now looking like a potential home-team contender for the playoffs. It might have been a rough start to Udoka’s tenure, but it seems that his methods are starting to pay dividends as we head towards the All-Star break.