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It is very astonishing to see that the Boston Celtics are 42-30. Their record would give them the fourth seed and allow them to host a team in the first round of the playoffs. The Celtics even have the potential to reach the third seed in the Eastern Conference. They have no real stars (Isaiah Thomas was an All-Star this season, but he isn’t a “star” in name), yet they were still able to get this far.
So how have the Celtics been able to have more success than many of the other Eastern Conference teams with stars? After all, a team that starts Thomas, Avery Bradley, Jae Crowder, Amir Johnson and Jared Sullinger shouldn’t be that successful. There are two reasons why the Celtics have been successful: Head coach Brad Stevens and the team’s willingness to buy into the concept of “team.”
Last season, Stevens was able to take a very inexperienced Celtics team to the playoffs in his second year as head coach. Although the Celtics lost, the coach and the players gained more experience and confidence as a result of their playoff appearance.
This season, the Celtics have elevated their offensive play, averaging 105.8 points per game (fifth in the league) after averaging 101.1 points per game (14th in the league) a year ago. Defensively, the team is giving up 102 points this season (101.3 last season), but that can be expected when a team plays at a faster pace. Also, even though they are giving up more points, the team is ranked higher defensively than they were last year (20th in the 2014-15 season and 13th this season).
Even though Thomas is having a career year, he has to still remember the team concept that has brought the Celtics this far. A player who is averaging 22.2 points and 6.4 assists is definitely close to star-level, but at Thomas’ miniature height there is only so much he can do. The fate of the Celtics’ season lies with the roster as a whole and will be determined by how well they play as a team.
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