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The Boston Celtics have a 17-7 record since the start of the year, with their nine-game win streak coming to an end against the Detroit Pistons on February 16.
Defense has been the Celtics calling card all season, and since the start of the year, the team ranks 1st in defense rating and second overall for the season. It’s that defensive intensity that has FiveThirtyEight ranking the Celtics as the current favorites to win the NBA championship at the end of the season.
“This is probably one of the better defensive teams in my career. We’ve had some really good defensive units, but it feels hard to score on us. It feels really good, feels connected,” Jaylen Brown told the media following Boston’s massive win against the Philadelphia 76ers on February 15.
Those are strong words coming from Brown, who has been part of multiple Celtics rosters praised for their defensive intensity. In fact, for most of Brown’s early career, he was part of the Brad Stevens-led teams that consistently ranked in the top 10 of the NBA’s defensive rankings.
It’s a Team Effort
Unlike offense, defense is predicated on all five players being locked in and communicating. If one player misses their rotation, the entire defensive structure breaks down, which is why individual defensive metrics are such a poor indicator of a player’s defensive ability.
“We got a lot of guys each and every night stepping up on that side of the ball. I don’t think they get enough credit. Rob has been fantastic. Smart, of course, is going to be Smart. JT. We’ve been playing both sides of the ball all season, and we’re still getting better,” Brown said.
Derrick White is another player the Celtics can rely on to perform his defensive duties. Having come from Greg Popovich’s system in San Antonio, he will fit right into what Boston is trying to accomplish. Of course, it doesn’t hurt to have a play ranked third in blocks per game (Robert Williams) or fifth in steals per game (Marcus Smart), but the fact of the matter is that the collective is greater than the individual.
And it seems like the Celtics are all on the same page. Against the Sixers, the Celtics did a fantastic job of rotating over to provide help defense and flowing into traps on Joel Embiid around the mid-post.
Celtics Making Amends For Earlier This Season
Ime Udoka and the Celtics got off to an unfavorable start this season. Nothing seemed to go right for Boston between the litany of injuries throughout the roster to the late-game collapses.
There was also talk of infighting between players, and Udoka began to feel pressure from the fans after calling out the team in the media on several occasions. All-in-all it looked like the season was trending in the wrong direction. Yet, the Celtics have gradually improved in every aspect of their game and now look like the team Udoka spoke about developing during his introductory press conference in the summer.
“We definitely smoked some of these games in the past, being up big. So to be able to finish and find ways to win shows that we’re learning, that we’re growing. So we just gotta keep it up, one game at a time,” Brown said.
The Celtics, along with the rest of the league, will now enjoy a week-long break as fans and players gear up for All-Star weekend. Hopefully, the team can continue to build towards Udoka’s vision once the season resumes on February 24 because if they do, FiveThirtyEight might not be too far off in their predictions.
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