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Boston Celtics: A Bad Beginning To 2016

By Eric Laboissonniere

Jan 7, 2016; Chicago, IL, USA; Boston Celtics guard Evan Turner (11) drives to the basket past Chicago Bulls guard Jimmy Butler (21) during the first half at United Center. Mandatory Credit: Kamil Krzaczynski-USA TODAY Sports
Jan 7, 2016; Chicago, IL, USA; Boston Celtics guard Evan Turner (11) drives to the basket past Chicago Bulls guard Jimmy Butler (21) during the first half at United Center. Mandatory Credit: Kamil Krzaczynski-USA TODAY Sports /
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The Boston Celtics have gone 1-3 so far in the New Year while shooting a horrid 39 percent from the floor and 21 percent from deep.

The Boston Celtics are currently 19-17, but the team has lost three of its last four games to start 2016. Boston is not playing well on the offensive end at all during the New Year; currently they are 21st in offensive rating in the NBA (103.8), and in their last four games they are averaging only 96.5 points per game (they are averaging 102.4 PPG on the season).

The Celtics have also been shooting poorly recently; 39 percent from the floor in 2016 and 21 percent from distance. These poor shooting numbers cannot translate to wins.

Many of the Celtics have been struggling during 2016, including leading scorer Isaiah Thomas. He has gone 28-for-77 (36.3 percent) from the field and 4-for-24 from deep (16.6 percent). Thomas is not putting the Celtics in a good position to win these games with these shooting numbers. Marcus Smart has recently returned as well, and he has looked very rusty.

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Smart has gone 10-for-35 from the field (28.5 percent) and 2-for-14 from distance (14.2 percent). Since Avery Bradley has missed the past three games, the Celtics have been all out of sorts in the backcourt.

The team really misses Bradley on offense and defense. He is having a career year shooting (44.2 percent) and from deep (38.2 percent). This might prove that Bradley is their most valuable player because ever since he has been out, the Celtics have been really struggling on offense and struggling to get that big stop on defense.

However, it is not time to panic.

Don’t Panic, The Celtics Are Fine Right Now

Although the Celtics are losing games to teams that they should beat, it is not time to panic. Some players are starting to question the Celtics’ inconsistent rotation. David Lee thinks he deserves to be in the rotation and Thomas wants to rotation to be more stable.

Coach Brad Stevens has had a tough job all season trying to find the best lineups and best possible rotation, but it is not time to blow it up or overreact. A trade could be looming in the near future to clear up more minutes and put less stress on Stevens.

A Lee trade of some sort would make the most sense because of his huge contract and the fact that he has done practically nothing for the Celtics this season.

Give Stevens a little more time to mess with different lineups, and once Bradley comes back the team should get back on track. Hopefully, Bradley can return for their next game against the Memphis Grizzlies so the Celtics can avoid a three-game losing streak.

Overall

Boston has started the New Year horribly, but it is still not time to panic because they have been without Bradley and are still trying to find a stable rotation. Trust Stevens to work things out because they need to start winning some of these toss up games due to how tight the Eastern Conference standings are (Boston is currently out of the top eight right now).

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This is certainly not the way the Celtics wanted to start 2016 after the team had such a successful 2015, dating back to last season, but it is still not time to panic.

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