Boston Celtics: Grading each player’s first half performance
By John Ryan
With the first half of the NBA season coming to a close, the time has come to grade how each Boston Celtics player has performed so far.
The 2019-2020 Boston Celtics season is one that has already been somewhat of a rollercoaster. Starting in the off-season, the departures of Kyrie Irving and Al Horford put the state of the Celtics, specifically this current season, in jeopardy. Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown had flashed the potential to be star-caliber players but had yet to put it all together to envision a 50 win team.
In addition to Horford and Irving’s departures, the Celtics lost key rotational pieces such as Aaron Baynes, Terry Rozier, and Marcus Morris. Quickly, fortunes changed when Danny Ainge pivoted from Kyrie Irving to Kemba Walker. The ex-Charlotte Hornets guard gave the Celtics an All-Star caliber player and filled the suddenly vacant point guard position.
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Going into the season it was hard to project the ceiling of this Celtics team. They had talent but lacked proven continuity, lost arguably the teams two best players, and had question marks on the bench. Now going into the second half of the season with a record of 38-16, the question becomes how far can this team go?
The Boston Celtics are 13-9 against teams above .500 including wins over the Milwaukee Bucks, Toronto Raptors, Philadelphia 76ers, Los Angeles Lakers and LA Clippers. In other words, they have already proven they can go toe to toe with the perceived contenders. Now, it’s about doing it on a consistent enough basis to beat these teams four times within a seven-game series.