Celtics At the All-Star Break

Author: Jack Gordon

Editor: Fran Attie

If you had talked to any Celtics fan two weeks ago, not only would you have thought that the team was the 15th seed in the Eastern Conference, but that Danny Ainge needed to be fired, as well as Brad Stevens, and that everyone on the roster, short of Tatum, Brown, and Lucky the Leprechaun, might need to be traded.

For a while, there was real concern.

Before their most recent four-game win-streak heading into the All-Star break, Boston was 15-17, which wasn’t even good enough for the eighth seed. It seemed like each game was a new low point in the season, with two particularly bad losses—with the Pelicans overcoming a massive lead and the Hawks blowing them out—making fans reach for the panic button and scream in frustration along with the alarm bells.

On the bright side, the Celtics have won four in a row and faced a lot of challenges early in the season with injuries (most notably to Marcus Smart) and COVID-related setbacks.

This, however, doesn’t give them a pass, because they haven’t been good.

The biggest problem is that the All-Star that they essentially swapped Kyrie Irving for, Kemba Walker, is playing nowhere near where the team needs him to be. Averaging 18.5 PPG and 4.6 APG on less than 40 percent from the field, Walker has been inconsistent, not explosive, and at times a non-factor in important games.

At this point in his career, we obviously shouldn’t expect Walker to be Kyrie, but… can he be better than, maybe, Terry Rozier? The man they literally swapped for Walker has been averaging over 20 PPG on nearly 50 percent from the field and providing real energy to a Charlotte team that had low expectations coming into the season. Walker’s play, as the season goes on, is the number one factor if the Celtics are to improve and make a more solid hold of the fourth seed.

Other problems include defense, coaching, and depth. The coaching and defense go hand-in-hand, and for a coach who is known for the defensive side of things, Brad Stevens has been leading a team that is disorganized and oftentimes unwilling to put in significant effort on that end.

Part of this is down to personnel, which has been limited. Yes, Marcus Smart has been injured, and yes, his defense and playmaking are sorely missed. But don’t forget, when Smart comes back, Celtic fans also get to watch their beloved defensive point guard assert himself on offense and take those patented 30-foot stepback bombs with 15 seconds left on the shot clock.

On the bench, there isn’t much to work with. Good teams in the NBA need someone to come off the bench and provide a jolt of energy, and Boston simply doesn’t have that. There are a few decent guys, but absolutely nobody that is inspiring the team when they check-in. It’s hard to imagine how dire this team would be if Payton Pritchard didn’t turn out to be a serviceable player right away. Celtics fans may like the Time Lord, and yet Brad Stevens only plays him 16 minutes a game (just a hunch, but it’s probably because of his defensive miscues, to put it gently), which means that Daniel Theis becomes really important for them. I’m not sure if anybody thought that Jeff Teague was the missing piece, and I’m not sure if Tristan Thompson has recovered after Zion barreled straight through him late in the Celtics’ loss, but they haven’t been up to par either.

The Celtics truly had an awful stretch, and the reason we are so hard on this team is because the East islike it is almost every year, really weak. Like, seriously. The fourth-seeded Celtics would currently be the ninth seed if they were in the West. If we’re being honest here, the fact that the Knicks, Hornets, Bulls, Hawks, and Wizards are all in play for a playoff spot is ridiculous (no need to make a qualification here, I’m sure enough people have reminded us that the Knicks are playing well).

In the NBA, teams have a window of opportunity to compete before it's gone. The Celtics had their best chance in the bubble, but couldn’t pull it off. The Nets and Sixers are good, and so are the Bucks, but the Celtics have to be right there because the rest of the conference is so unbelievably wide open.

The Celtics have some picks, some mediocre assets, and a trade exception, all of which they should use to make some moves before the deadline. The team needs to focus on building around Tatum and Brown and bring in players that can turn things around, even if that means giving up Semi Ojeleye, Robert Williams III, or some rookies.

At this point, they might even have to throw in the Leprechaun, too.

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