3 observations from the opening 5 games of the Boston Celtics in the 2021-22 NBA season
The Boston Celtics were one of the NBA teams with notable turnovers this past offseason, both in regards to their roster and coaching staff. Early in the 2021-22 season, it seemed as though the growing pains may be greater than most expected. It was evident by their slow start through the first five games of the season.
Primary changes from last season include replacing Kemba Walker, Tristan Thompson, Daniel Theis, Evan Fournier, Semi Ojeleye, Dennis Schroder, Josh Richardson and Al Horford. Brad Stevens filled the head front office vacancy left when Danny Ainge moved on and Stevens' previous role was replaced by rookie head coach Ime Udoka.
The loss of playmaking going into the season was well documented, and the idea of Jayson Tatum playing point guard was frequently mentioned. That experiment is still questionable, and the Boston Celtics are currently sitting at 2-3 after five games played.
Their losses came against the New York Knicks, Toronto Raptors, and Washington Wizards while their victories came from battles with the Houston Rockets and Charlotte Hornets. Their showing against both the Knicks and Hornets went into overtime before being decided.
After a disappointing start to the season, here are three observations I have from the Boston Celtics early games played.
#3 Horrific defense
The Boston Celtics were not a stellar defensive team last season, but they were about in the middle of the pack. Five games into the season, they sit as the 23rd ranked defensive rating (111.5) while playing a vastly different caliber of offense in their games.
The New York Knicks are proving to be much improved on that end, with former Boston Celtics Kemba Walker and Evan Fournier making a notable difference to their perimeter creation. Charlotte and Washington are known high-level offenses and should be the same this season.
As for games where the Boston Celtics failed to slow down Houston and Toronto, that's unforgivable. The Rockets are clearly focusing on their future with Kevin Porter Jr. and Jalen Green running the show, while Porter currently averages the most turnovers per game across the NBA.
Jalen Green has struggled mightley to start his career, with his only promising outing being an efficient 30 point performance against the Boston Celtics. Toronto rookie Scottie Banes has a similar story.
Barnes has been positively impactful in every game he's participated in, but no night has led to a better box score than his first showdown with the Boston Celtics. He ended the game with 25 points, 13 rebounds and two assists.
The Boston Celtics don't seem to have a defensive scheme they are comfortable with at the moment, and starting Horford alongside Robert Williams could be part of the issue.
#2 Uncontrolled aggressiveness on defense
Part of the Boston Celtics' defensive issues is that their aggressiveness is uncontrolled. At this early point in the season, the Celtics have given up the most free throw attempts per game (25.8) of any team.
Each opponent of the Boston Celtics has shot at least 20 free throw attempts in their game. Jaylen Brown, Marcus Smart, Dennis Schroder and Jayson Tatum are the key culprits in this struggle.
Their perimeter defenders, aside from Josh Richardson, are struggling to contain their assignment without being overly physical and attracting attention from the referees.
The Boston Celtics' backline defense does contain two league leaders in blocks per game in Horford and Williams, but chasing blocks is part of the issue. Obviously, when contact is successfully made with the shot attempt there are no problems, but this shows a trend to constantly jump at opponents.
The Boston Celtics will need to be more disciplined on the defensive end if they want to find some consistency as the season goes on. They still have plenty of time to do so, along with the necessary personnel.
#1 Inconsistency from Jaylen Brown
Jaylen Brown came out in game one and scored 46 points for the Boston Celtics in an overtime duel. The young wing then only managed to tally nine points in the following game on less than half of the shot attempts from the field.
Brown was sidelined for one game before returning to Charlotte, where he posted a 30 point overtime performance that included a monster transition dunk late. Two days later, his final scorecard read 13 points on 5/16 from the field.
The Boston Celtics need more consistency from Jaylen Brown this season with the absence of Walker and Fournier, and head coach Udoka is well aware of that. In his post-game media conference after the Boston Celtics' loss to Washington, the head coach said:
"The contrast between some of those previous games, especially Charlotte and the New York game and the way you see him come out tonight, is kind of mind boggling."
The Boston Celtics need Jaylen Brown to perform at the All-Star level he showed in the years prior. They need his output on a consistent basis if they want to have significant success in the Eastern Conference this season.
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