NBA Playoffs 2013: Boston Celtics Playoff Profile
The 2012-13 season has been one full of drama, disappointment and resilience for the Boston Celtics. They entered the season with a great deal of promise; after Jeff Green’s recovery from heart surgery the team looked younger, more athletic and ready to take another shot at the Miami Heat in the Eastern Conference. The Celtics will again be a factor in the East playoff picture despite their tumultuous season, here is the 2012-13 Boston Celtics playoff profile.
The Celtics added a number of key young pieces such as Green, Courtney Lee and rookie Jared Sullinger to an experienced championship core. While they lost Ray Allen to free agency, they brought in Jason Terry to try and fill his veteran role and outside shooting.
The Celtics started slowly and were struggling to keep touch with the Eastern Conference playoff teams when tragedy struck and they lost All-Star point guard Rajon Rondo to a season-ending knee injury on Jan. 25 in Atlanta. Within the next week, the Celtics lost Sullinger, who had become a key member of the team and their best rebounder, to season-ending back surgery.
Boston rallied around their veteran leaders Kevin Garnett and Paul Pierce and improved significantly over the latter stages over the season, securing the seventh seed in the Eastern Conference. While it may not be the dominant regular season performance we are used to seeing from the Garnett-era Celtics, they are a veteran team that is built for the playoffs and will still be one of the toughest teams to face in the East.
The Celtics pride themselves on defense and with coach Doc Rivers at the helm, the team will enter the post season with a comradary and belief that they can beat any team in a seven game series. They will struggle without Rondo, who is traditionally one of the league’s most dominant playoff performers but there will be young players on the team such as Green and Avery Bradley ready to take their opportunity on the big stage.
The Celtics carry with them the history of being the NBA’s most successful franchise with a record 17 championship banners hanging in the TD Garden. Since general manager Danny Ainge brought together the new “Big Three” in 2007, the team has gone on to win an NBA championship, appear in a second NBA finals series and make numerous deep runs into the playoffs. Celtic Pride means a great deal to the players who throw that green jersey on and come playoff time that message will be echoed throughout the coaches and the veteran leaders of this Boston team.
Last season, despite holding the underdog status that they will again enter this season’s playoffs with, the Celtics went on a gritty, determined run deep into the playoffs and were a game away from an unlikely appearance in the NBA finals. The Celtics were forced to do it the hard way, defeating the Atlanta Hawks in six games before the Philadelphia 76ers gave them everything they could handle in a tight seven game series. In the Eastern Conference finals against the Heat, the Celtics led the series three games to two before the eventual NBA champion Heat regained their health and momentum to come over the top of a gallant Celtics team.
While expecting the same kind of run out of this year’s Celtics may be naïve, there is one thing that is certain. That is that the Celtics will play tough, hard-nosed, defensive basketball and will make life hell in a seven game series for whoever they match up against. With no expectations and most of the media again overlooking the Celtics chances, the wounded veteran Celtics will come out swinging and with a fighters mentality they could cause an upset (or two) in the Eastern Conference playoffs.
Celtics captain Paul Pierce is a big-time playoff performer.
Photo Credit: Keith Allison, Flickr.com
Current Vitals:
The Celtics currently sit at 41-39 with just one game left to play. They will finish the season with 81 games played due to their second last game against Indiana being cancelled as a result of the Boston Marathon explosions. In an up-and-down season, the Celtics have finished seventh overall in the Eastern Conference and were just third in the Atlantic Division. They got into the playoffs on the back of an impressive home record of 27-13 but are currently just 14-26 on the road.
Team Leaders:
Points: Paul Pierce, 18.7ppg
Rebounds: Kevin Garnett, 7.8rpg
Assists: Paul Pierce, 4.9apg (was Rondo, 11.1apg)
Steals: Avery Bradley, 1.3spg (was Rondo, 1.8spg)
Blocks: Kevin Garnett, 0.9bpg
All-Star Kevin Garnett will again be the voice of the Celtics defense in the playoffs.
Photo Credit: Keith Allison
Emotional Leader: Kevin Garnett
While Paul Pierce will always remain the captain and heart of the Boston Celtics as long as he is on the team, the true emotion and leadership of these Celtics comes from All-Star, veteran big man Kevin Garnett. Garnett has set the tone for everything these Celtics have represented over the six seasons he has spent in Boston. He is the defensive anchor, the vocal leader and the ultimate example of unselfishness and team play.
Defensively, everything the Celtics do revolves around Garnett, he anchors the defense in the paint while screaming instructions to his teammates on what plays the offense is running, where cutters are going and who needs to fill which spots on the floor. He is a coach on the floor on the defensive end and that has proven to be invaluable to the Celtics in the playoffs where their defense is the true key to their success.
Even more so than his ability, it is Garnett’s intensity and determination that spurs his teammates. He competes on every possession, stretches the rules and the opponent’s nerves as far as they can go while inspiring his team with profanity laden encouragement. The only time Garnett stops talking is when he hits the bench and momentarily goes into some Zen-like mode to recover for his next energy draining spell on the court. His teammates love it, they feed off it, especially the younger guys look at a 36 year old like Garnett throwing everything he has into every minute of every game and that inspires them. Kevin Garnett cares not if his team is the favorite for the title or, like this season is a long shot underdog to even advance past the first round, he truly believes he and his teammates are capable of beating anybody and he will fight every minute of these playoffs alongside them to prove it.
Jeff Green is the Celtics’ biggest X-factor in the playoffs.
Photo Credit: Mark Runyon, Basketball Schedule
Player to Watch: Jeff Green
There is a belief among the coaching staff and players in Boston that Jeff Green is truly a special player and he had only shown glimpses of his true potential prior to joining the Celtics in the 2010-11 season. He had little chance to integrate himself into the team prior to the 2011 playoffs and then, without warning his 2011-12 campaign was derailed before it had even began as a heart issue caused him to undergo season-ending surgery. He endured a long and tedious come back to the NBA. He started this season out slowly and had showed little more than we had become used to when he was a solid, but unspectacular player for the Oklahoma City Thunder.
As the season has progressed, Jeff Green’s confidence started to rise, his performances have become increasingly impressive and consistent and he has been rewarded with a solidified place in Rivers’ starting line-up. Green has had a number of huge games this season, some of them have come against the Eastern Conference’s strongest teams.
This will be Jeff Green’s first real opportunity in the playoffs as a Boston Celtic with a major role and expectations. Without Rajon Rondo, someone is going to have to support Pierce and Garnett offensively and Green will be expected to play significant minutes in every game. Not only will he need to contribute offensively, but Green will be the primary defender against some of the league’s best players if the Celtics advance through the playoffs. The likes of Carmelo Anthony, Paul George and LeBron James would all be Green’s major defensive assignment and his ability to keep these superstars in check would go a long way to establishing a Celtic victory.
Jeff Green is no superstar, but he is a versatile, highly skilled player on both ends of the court who can, on any given night match the production of the best in the league. He will need to be locked in defensively from game one, he will need to be confident in his offense and respond when the team is the back foot. If Green can lift his game to the next level in the post season, he will be the key to the Celtics potentially shocking the East.
The Celtics will face Carmelo Anthony and the New York Knicks in the first round.
Photo Credit: Scott Mecum, Flickr.com
First Round Matchup: New York Knicks
The New York Knicks are riding high after the most successful regular season in over a decade. The team will enter the playoffs as the No. 2 seed in the East and have great expectations placed upon them to succeed. The Knicks are, understandably the favorites going in to the first round against the Celtics and will obviously carry the all-important home court advantage as well.
Led by the league’s leading scorer Carmelo Anthony, the Knicks have a mix of high usage isolation players, outside shooting, championship winning veterans, team defense and perhaps most importantly a great deal of momentum leading into the post season.
We will analyse the Knicks and this matchup in detail in the Hoops Habit playoff preview, coming soon.