So far this season, the Boston Celtics haven’t been meeting expectations. The Celtics have struggled with consistency offensively and they have won most of their games thanks to their defense.
The Celtics right now are 6-6 and are eleventh in the conference right behind the Charlotte Hornets and the defending champions the Milwaukee Bucks.
The score differential for the Celtics between their games is alarming, as they seem to be a different team every night they play. They started out the season losing to former Celtic player Kemba Walker with the New York Knicks in overtime 138-134, which was followed by a beatdown at the hands of the Toronto Raptors 115-83.
While they may be struggling offensively, the Celtics have been terrific defensively. Out of the 12 games played so far, the Celtics have held their opponents to under 100 points five times thanks to strong performances by both Jayson Tatum and Marcus Smart.
Tatum struggled in the first game of the year against the Knicks going 7 for 30 shooting and he has not been great at shooting the ball this season. He went from shooting 73.5% around the basket to a pitiful 52.5%. So far this season, he has averaged 23.5 points on 38.9 percent shooting while averaging 8.6 rebounds, 3.6 assists, 1.0 steals and 0.8 blocks per game. If the Celtics are going to make noise in the playoffs this year, Tatum needs to start shooting the ball better.
Jaylen Brown has looked good in some games offensively but he has struggled defensively this year. He has only played in six games because of a hamstring injury he suffered playing against the Heat. So far this season he has averaged 25.6 points on 49.3 percent shooting with 6.1 rebounds, 2.5 assists, 1.2 steals and 0.5 blocks per game.
Smart has been solid so far this season. While he will never be a big offensive player, he has been one of the Celtics best defenders this season with only Lamelo Ball and Luka Doncic scoring over 20 points on him. So far, he has averaged 9.0 points on 32.6 percent shooting while averaging 3.4 rebounds, 4.2 assists, 2.3 steals and 0.4 blocks.
Since his return to the Celtics, Al Horford has been a real nice surprise with him playing like his younger self. At 35, he has been one of the most consistent players for the Celtics averaging 13.1 points on 44 percent shooting while averaging 9.0 rebounds, 3.1 assists, 0.9 steals and 2.4 blocks. We will have to wait and see if he can keep up this production, but so far he’s off to a very good start.
Robert Williams III is starting to emerge this season for the Celtics after being given more playing time. Williams has become a bigger offensive player averaging 10.6 points on 72.3 percent shooting while averaging 8.8 rebounds, 1.2 assists, 1.2 steals and 1.8 blocks.
With Brown injured, Dennis Schroeder has started to emerge in his place. Similar to Smart, he is not a big part in the offense but he is a stellar defender for the Celtics. So far this season, Schroeder has averaged 14.5 points on 39.3 percent shooting while averaging 3.8 rebounds, 5.8 assists, 1.2 steals and 0.1 blocks per game.
If the Celtics are to make a deep run this year, their offense is going to have to gain some level of consistency. The season is still young and the Celtics have time to work on their offense but they will have to figure it out soon.
