Every morning, we compile the links of the day and dump them here… highlighting the big storyline. Because there’s nothing quite as satisfying as a good morning dump.
- The Celtics have the league’s most home-heavy January schedule, playing 11 of their 15 games at TD Garden, and their four road games are all against teams — Miami, Orlando, Brooklyn and Atlanta — that go into the month with losing records. In fact, their three January games against teams that currently have winning records are the fewest in the league. The Celtics will begin January with a four-game homestand (that includes a visit from the third-place Pacers) and they’ll end it with a five-game homestand (that includes a visit from the Warriors. Their biggest game of the month could be a visit from the Toronto Raptors on Jan. 16.
According to the article, the Celtics’ play one of the easiest January schedules in the East. 10 of their 15 opponents have a sub-.500 record, although three are against a scrappy Brooklyn team that could just as likely turn their season around at any moment (they’ve won nine of their last 12, including wins over the Raptors, Sixers, Pacers, and Lakers).
Prior to their recent stretch of playing roughly .500 basketball, the Celtics were annihilating lesser competition at home, most notably beating the Bulls by 56 points in the midst of an eight-game winning streak. Boston is 3-5 since then, and I can’t believe I’m saying this, but they’re clinging onto dear life on the defensive end as they await Aron Baynes’ return from injury. I’m not one to make excuses for mediocre losses, but the effects of his absence have been abundantly clear: opposing teams can get almost anything they want in the paint with Baynes absent. I’m not talking about centers – it’s actually the opposing guards that are driving to the rim without fear of getting stonewalled by Baynes, which has resulted in the Celtics getting killed by pick-and-roll plays.
On page 2, the importance of defense
Let’s face it. Defense will never get its full and proper due in basketball. While Marcus Smart’s steals and charges drawn and Robert Williams’ blocked shots will rouse the Garden for a moment, hoop discussions will almost always trend heavily toward offense. It’s the more evident aspect of the game, for even if we don’t always detect the subtle screens and floor spacing that led to the score, we know who put the ball in the bucket.
But you don’t need a deep analytics dive to see the correlation between defense and Celtic success.
Fifteen times this season, the Celts have given up more than 110 points. They are 4-11 in these games, but three of them were overtime affairs that taint the 110 benchmark. That leaves the C’s 1-11 when giving up more than that number in regulation.
And 17-4 in games they allow fewer.
The Celtics look like the team we thought they would be when they look motivated, and it starts on defense. Far too often does the game slow down to a crawl where the ball sits in one player’s hands for too long and it forces a bad shot in isolation. Yes, the Celtics have some good isolation scorers but that shouldn’t become the preferred style of play if you can force turnovers and score in transition. Injuries (and recovering from them) have been a pain, but the lack of intensity has killed this team more than anything. Effort is contagious – nobody wants to be the only guy on the court not working hard – but I can’t seem to understand why the Celtics have such a hard time flipping the switch.
More links
MassLive: The Boston Celtics in 2019: 10 things we will learn about the team in the new year
Boston.com: Kyrie Irving questionable with eye irritation
Add The Sports Daily to your Google News Feed!
