Coming into the 2022-23 NBA season, there was some worry that the Boston Celtics could struggle to replicate their last season’s success. They already had some injuries, as Robert Wiliams III and Danilo Gallinari both had to undergo procedures on their knees.
While Williams is expected back in the second half of the season, Gallinari could miss the entire campaign with an ACL tear.
Losing frontcourt depth hurts, but the team was also undergoing a change on the coaching staff with head coach Ime Udoka suspended for at least the season. He was replaced by assistant Joe Mazzulla, who has kept things rolling.
Boston hasn’t replicated their success from last season when they made a run to the NBA Finals. Instead, they have surpassed what they were accomplishing last season as they have the best record in the NBA at 21-5.
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Mazzulla has done an excellent job taking what Udoka had accomplished and improving upon it. He received plenty of praise from an NBA scout that spoke to NBA Analysis Network about the Celtics’ hot start.
“Joe Mazzulla has done a fantastic job. He has the full buy-in of that team, and they’re moving the ball with the intent to make the right play. They have that balance of hunting mismatches to get their top guys looks with having actual flow in the half-court as a group. They have an amazing formula for winning that will be tough to stop come playoff time.”
There were times last season when Boston relied too heavily on isolation basketball. Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown were not getting their teammates involved enough as they were 18-21 after blowing a 24-point lead. Since that point, they have been by far the best team in the NBA.
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The Celtics finished the regular season on a 33-10 run and then advanced to the NBA Finals, where they lost to the Golden State Warriors. They are having a historic offensive season, being led by Tatum and Brown with excellent contributions throughout the team.
“It’s easy to look at the top of the roster and focus on Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown. They deserve much credit, but there’s more to the Celtics’ success than that. They have done a great job of surrounding those guys with players that can shoot at a high clip and attack closeouts to get to the rim or make the right play with the pass. That may sound like an oversimplification, but it’s amazing how many teams have players that can do just one or two things with glaring holes in their game. Boston doesn’t have that, and when you have a stretch five like Al Horford, it opens things up a lot for the whole offense to maximize those strengths.”
There are 11 players on the team averaging at least 5.0 points per game. Five players are shooting at least 42.7 percent from 3-point range and making more than one 3-pointer per game and not a single rotation player is currently shooting under 45 percent from the field.
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This roster has been constructed beautifully by Brad Stevens as he pinpointed specific needs in the offseason and upgraded them with shrewd moves. This is a roster that is ready to contend once again and it is hard to envision anyone beating them in a seven-game series should they continue playing at a level this high.
