Boston Celtics: Size Creates Problems For The C’s
The Boston Celtics have had a pretty good season so far, but they still seem to struggle against teams with a lot of size.
The Boston Celtics lost to the Cleveland Cavaliers on Friday, and one thing that you can take away from this game is that the Celtics have trouble with bigger teams. Cleveland can play a plethora of different lineups with a lot of size, and the Celtics were out-rebounded in that game 47-37.
Players such as Tristan Thompson, Timofey Mozgov, LeBron James, and Kevin Love give the Celtics a lot of trouble because they are hard to match up with. Mozgov is 7-foot-1, Love is 6-foot-10, Thompson is 6-foot-9, and LeBron is 6-foot-8.
The Celtics do not have that much size on their team, which is why it is hard for them to matchup with a team like Cleveland. Amir Johnson only played 17 minutes in the game against the Cavaliers and he had just one rebound, while players like Jared Sullinger and Jae Crowder played more than 30 minutes in this game.
Coach Brad Stevens likes to play small, but it is becoming a problem, especially without Kelly Olynyk, because they are really struggling to protect the rim and clean up on the glass.
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Another big team that has given the Celtics problems this year is the Utah Jazz, and that is because of Rudy Gobert and Derrick Favors. The Celtics got out-rebounded 52-47 in their game against the Jazz on Feb. 29. Earlier in the season, when the Celtics lost to the Jazz, they were out-rebounded 51-34. They also gave up 23 points to Favors and 11 points to Gobert.
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Boston really has problems against teams that have these really big frontcourt players, they obviously do not have to deal with these players every night, but they do give the Celtics problems.
The other team with size that gives the Celtics problems is the Milwaukee Bucks. The Celtics are 2-1 against the Bucks this season, but they have really struggled trying to contain Greg Monroe and even Jabari Parker in the frontcourt. Monroe has averaged 22.0 points and 11.3 rebounds in three games against the Celtics.
Boston has had many problems with big teams this year because frankly they do not have a lot of size on their team, but they also do not give a lot of minutes to their core frontcourt players.
Amir Johnson might need to play more
Johnson is the Celtics’ best rim protector, but he only averages about 22.5 minutes per game because sometimes he is a liability on offense. Stevens like to play Crowder at the 4 a lot and Sullinger at the 5, which is why the Celtics get out-rebounded some games and struggle against bigger teams.
Johnson provides great rebounding and shot-blocking, and he is a good man-to-man defender, but Stevens tends to stick with a guard-heavy lineup down the stretch.
The small-ball lineup that the Celtics like to roll with is fine at the end of games, but it is hard to use that for a long time seeing that Crowder plays the four and he is only 6-foot-6.
Overall
Boston is going to have a tough time once the playoffs come around against teams like Cleveland and the Toronto Raptors because of their size, which is why they might need to play Johnson more or just bigger lineups in general to matchup with these big teams.
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The Celtics have a roster that can compete with some of the better teams in the Eastern Conference, but they need to use more lineups that can handle big teams like Cleveland, Toronto, and Milwaukee.