NBA 2018-19: The Boston Celtics are not playing to their potential
The Boston Celtics had a terrific season last year. Although it was a season that was marred by injuries to star players like Kyrie Irving and Gordon Hayward, it gave the team the opportunity to give its younger players the chance to step up and show their true potential and they did indeed surprise a lot of teams with their stellar play.
Their head coach, Brad Stevens, who is currently in the midst of his 5th year coaching the team, deserves a lot of praise for the way in which he has led the team. Players like Jaylen Brown, Terry Rozier, Marcus Smart and last but not the least, star rookie Jayson Tatum have all flourished under his coaching style.
The Celtics finished the 2017-18 season with a 55-27 record and were the second seed in the Eastern Conference heading into the playoffs. They had a deep playoff run and made it to the Eastern Conference Finals where they faced the reigning Eastern Conference champions, the Cleveland Cavaliers led by LeBron James.
The young Celtics really took it to the Cavaliers as the series went all the way to a game 7. Although the Cleveland Cavaliers eventually came out on top, things were looking very bright for the future of the Celtics.
Coming into the 2018-19 season, the Celtics were finally at full health and with Kyrie Irving and Hayward finally back to full fitness it looked like the Celtics had signed two new players to help out the already impressive lineup they had at their disposal.
The Celtics were looking to replicate the same form they had last season but unfortunately, things have not gone as per plan so far. The Celtics are currently 10-9 on the season and sit at 6th in the Eastern Conference which has become very competitive after the departure of LeBron James who joined the Los Angeles Lakers this season.
The Celtics do not lack any offensive prowess but there seems to be an issue with their defense as they are allowing opponents more than 100 points a game. Although it is too early in the season to say anything, the Celtics need to address these issues as soon as possible if they want to make it to the NBA Finals and contend for the championship.