Despite losing two of their most notable defenders over the course of the offseason, the new-look Celtics boast an imposing defensive front thanks to returning defensive quarterback Al Horford and new addition Kyrie Irving, Chris Forsberg of ESPN writes.
In fact, if the NBA season were to end today, the Celtics would have the highest defensive rating (95.9) of any team since the 2004/05 Spurs. That’s a franchise improvement of 9.6 points over last season, a fact even more impressive when you consider that in addition to the new faces, the club also heavily features youth in their lineup, starting both 21-year-old Jaylen Brown and 19-year-old Jayson Tatum.
As Forsberg writes, the Celtics may have lost defensive skill over the summer but they gained length. By replacing Isaiah Thomas, Avery Bradley and Jae Crowder with Irving, Brown and Tatum, the club gained more than a foot in height.
There’s more from the Atlantic Division:
- A profile on new Nets minority owner Joe Tsai reveals that the Alibaba co-founder’s favorite player is Jeremy Lin, Marc Berman of the New York Post writes. Tsai also praised second-year swingman Caris LeVert.
- The Raptors haven’t relied heavily on C.J. Miles from beyond the arc but his presence on the perimeter has served as a decoy for the Raptors’ offense, Doug Smith of the Toronto Star writes. “He is a product of great spacing,” head coach Dwane Casey said. “He helps our spacing and that is one reason why the roll guy is so productive. They are hugged up on him [out beyond the arc], which is great, and to me that is just as good as C.J. knocking down a three or even getting an attempt.“
- While the plan was to keep Marcus Morris on a minute restriction following his return from a knee injury, injuries to other players have impacted that strategy. A. Sherrod Blakely of NBC Sports Boston writes that the newly acquired Celtics forward has been called upon to play 22-25 minutes but that they’ll see how his body responds on a game-by-game basis.
I️ mean… by replacing Isaiah Thomas with anyone you’d gain more than a foot in height.
Lol haha…You know, I didn’t really think of that when I was reading the article….BUT, now that you mention it, yeah thays exactly right…lol
All jokes aside though, their roster is much more versatile now… by replacing IT, Avery Bradley, and Crowder with their new guys Kyrie, Morris, Tatum, and even Baynes, by acquiring these guys, and with Brown taking the next big steps in his development, the Celtics have really positioned themselves very well to match up favorably against just about any other team in the NBA..
If they had Hayward, then I’d say they’d even match up fairly well against the Warriors
Curry v. Kyrie
Thompson v. Brown
KD v. Hayward
Green v. Tatum
Pachulia v. Horford
With the 6th-9th men being
GS – Iguodala, Young, Livingston, and West
Celtics – Morris, Smart, Rozier, Baynes
As things stand now, losing Hayward, for me, gives the complete edge to the Warriors, and his loss makes it not nearly as close. Although, defensively, if there is one team that might still give them some trouble, it could be the Celtics. This is the case, especially, if they go out and get another guy or two at/before the deadline. The Celtics have the length, versatility, speed, size, and also one factor that is just as important, is they have a coach that can game plan with the best around…
Time will tell, but I believe next year, things will be even more exciting..Both teams are setting themselves up for dominance over, at least the next 2-4 seasons…
Yeah I’d say the celtics lose that matchup even with Hayward given where Tatum and brown are still at in their developments. BUT, the future is extremely bright!!
The Celtics are built to be an Elite powerhouse for the next decade. Between acquiring Kyrie, signing Hayward, and adding Baynes, Morris, drafting Tatum PLUS all the 1st round picks they still have, they have the brightest future of ANY NBA Franchise.
Baynes does a good job of going straight up on the initial contact, and then knowing how to get away with stuff on the way down, like swiping down on the hands and wrists and forearms. He also gives them that help on the glass that they missed
Amir Johnson is a good defender, but now they have more versatility on the floor at all times, which is something they didn’t always have last year at the 4 spot. Kyrie is terrible on that end, but he is an upgrade over Isaiah, and he has at least made some efforts there. Tatum has also benefited from playing at the 4, where he should be defensively, and he has gotten better at playing feet first defense and moving laterally. The Celtics have more size out there than they previously did, and can play more physical. Obviously that sounds weird when they lost Bradley and Crowder, but their wing depth is bigger than it was. I’d also say that it’s early in the season, so it’s a short sample size, but this team was always going to be very good defensively. The season would also normally have just started a week ago, and there was a shortened training camp, so teams will probably be a lot more in rhythm around this point/in the next week. Helps that the Celtics schedule has been relatively easy as well
Even Kyrie hasn’t been an issue on that end b/c he is on the court with good defenders around him. He has been able to get a bunch of deflections guarding off the ball. I also made mention that he has made efforts on that end. He has moved his feet better defensively at times…I anticipated the Celtics having an improved defense this year before training camp, as they brought in a bunch of good defenders, even the rookies, as mentioned with Ojeleye, and Rozier off the bench brings a lot of energy and disruptiveness. Morris coming back adds to that, and gives them more depth, as well as a needed veteran at the 4/on the wing