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It’s impossible to overstate the positive impact that moving Bradley off the ball has created. Over Boston’s first four games (all losses), the team owned an offensive rating of a measly 86.7 when Bradley was on the court (it ballooned to 105.4 when he was on the bench). Bradley was minus-22 for that stretch while turning the ball over 3.8 times per game.

Since inserting Crawford into the starting lineup, the Celtics have won three straight and Boston’s offensive rating has climbed to 101.6 when Bradley is on the floor (and dipped to 100.3 when he’s off). Bradley is averaging only 1.3 turnovers per game in that span and his field goal percentage is up eight percent.

In order for Boston to consistently have a chance to win games this season, it needs an efficient Bradley on the floor. For whatever reason, running the point guard position tends to paralyze him. But the freedom of the shooting guard role allows his natural talents to take over. It’s fair to say that Bradley isn’t over-thinking the game when he’s off the ball.

ESPN Boston: Avery Bradley is on when he’s off

These were my real-time reactions to Avery Bradley’s 4th quarter in Miami.

Avery Bradley takeover mode?

— John Karalis (@RedsArmy_John) November 10, 2013

Avery Bradley is suddenly channeling Chris Paul, apparently

— John Karalis (@RedsArmy_John) November 10, 2013

He was a monster out there. He was smooth and confident. There was no hesitation in anything he did, and he was doing it like he was supposed to be doing it. In his head, he switched from whatever shell of what he was in the first four games to the “hi, my name is Avery Bradley, and I’m about to shit on your self-confidence” guy we saw late Saturday night.

Avery’s sudden transition from “offensive liability” to “key to winning games” should end, beyond any doubt, any more experimentation with him as the primary ball handler.

Those days are over. They are done.

Let it be said now with all clarity and for all the world to hear, that Avery Bradley is not, in any way, shape, or form, an NBA point guard.

We’ve seen it proven time and time again that the millisecond Bradley is moved off the ball, he becomes a different player. Running the offense is his kryptonite. Plain and simple.

In the three games since Jordan Crawford was injected into the starting line up, Bradley has four total turnovers. He had 15 in the first four games as the team’s point guard. He shot 37.7% as the PG. He’s shooting 45.7% since moving off the ball.

With Jordan Crawford off the floor, Avery Bradley is averaging 0.73 points per possession (PPP). With him on the floor, it’s 1.11.

Bradley has said that Crawford makes him more comfortable out there because of the way he carries himself (which is funny, because I immediately get uncomfortable when Crawford is out there, despite the results so far). But it’s really not just a Steez-centric effect. When Phil Pressey is on the floor, Avery’s PPP jumps to 1.07 as compared to 0.85 with him off the floor.

So the key to the Celtics offense going from “absolutely sucking” to “hey, we look like a real basketball team out there sometimes” has not necessarily been to find ourselves a true point guard. It has been realizing that Bradley is not one, and going in a different direction.

Jordan Crawford’s not necessarily the answer there. He’s a pretty good passer when it comes to threading needles and making the occasional pretty drive-and-dish, but he’s still going to do “Jordan Crawford” things and his offense suffers as a starter. His true shooting percentage as a starter is 52.5%, as compared to 72.3% as a reserve. And Phil Pressey, while more of a natural point guard, is still a rookie who makes rookie mistakes, is more turnover prone, and hasn’t figured out yet how to get out of trouble when his size becomes an issue.

Obviously these are pre-Rondo stop-gaps, but the point here is that even less-palatable options at the 1 are paying big dividends because of how much being the off-guard changes Avery Bradley’s game.