The Celtics had last season one of the best turnarounds I’ve seen in a while. They had a poor 25-25 record on January 30th but they suddenly flipped a switch and went 26-6 the rest of the regular season while having the best offense and especially the best defense (by 4 points per 100 possessions vs #2 ranked) in the NBA.
Boston sent away Dennis Schroder and traded for Derrick White from San Antonio. This underrated move ignited the team’s chemistry and was a big factor on their run. In the playoffs, they swept the Nets but had trouble in beating the Bucks and the Heat, despite being the clearly better team in those series. In the Finals against Golden State, Boston was 2-1 up and had a great chance to win it all but scored just three points on their last eight possessions of G4 and then scored less than a point per possession in their G5 and G6 losses.
The struggles at executing down the stretch were recurrent with Boston in the regular season, as they went 3-9 in games decided by 3 points or fewer. During the run, their games weren’t close so these issues weren’t visible. However, in the postseason, those problems returned when it mattered the most…
2022/23 Outlook:
With their young core returning this season, Boston was the favorite in the East until the whole Ime Udoka thing happened. Udoka did a great job in his first season as the Celtics’ head coach but he is suspended for the season. So, they will be coached by Joe Mazzulla, a 34 year old with minimal NBA experience.
Then, during training camp, Robert Williams III had (another) knee surgery that will keep him out for at least the first month of the season. Williams was one of the most important players in the Celtics’ turnaround last season and his absence might be a big factor as the team’s frontcourt unit lacks quality depth and will have to rely on a 36 years old Al Horford…
Boston made another good move by signing Malcolm Brogdon, who will remove some of the playmaking burden off Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown, while his own solid offense will allow Derrick White to focus on defense, the area where he excels. Brown and Tatum will again be the team’s stars and they form one of the best duos in the league. However, they still have room to improve as Brown struggled with his playmaking and ball handling while Tatum ran out of gas in the finals.
The Celtics are one of the best teams in the East, but their scenario was better a month ago than it is now…