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Boston Celtics Still A Player Away From Next Level

By Simon Smith

Nov 23, 2016; Brooklyn, NY, USA; Boston Celtics point guard Isaiah Thomas (4) celebrates with Boston Celtics center Al Horford (42) during the third quarter at Barclays Center. Mandatory Credit: Brad Penner-USA TODAY Sports
Nov 23, 2016; Brooklyn, NY, USA; Boston Celtics point guard Isaiah Thomas (4) celebrates with Boston Celtics center Al Horford (42) during the third quarter at Barclays Center. Mandatory Credit: Brad Penner-USA TODAY Sports /
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Nov 3, 2016; Cleveland, OH, USA; Boston Celtics guard Isaiah Thomas (4) drives to the basket on Cleveland Cavaliers forward LeBron James (23) during the second quarter at Quicken Loans Arena. The Cavs won 128-122. Mandatory Credit: Ken Blaze-USA TODAY Sports
Nov 3, 2016; Cleveland, OH, USA; Boston Celtics guard Isaiah Thomas (4) drives to the basket on Cleveland Cavaliers forward LeBron James (23) during the second quarter at Quicken Loans Arena. The Cavs won 128-122. Mandatory Credit: Ken Blaze-USA TODAY Sports /

Coming Up Short

One large issue with the Celtics this season has been their inability to defeat the cream of the crop in the league. Now at the halfway point the of the season, the Celtics have played eight games against teams with a superior record to this point of the season.

They have lost all eight of those games.

They have lost twice each to the Cleveland Cavaliers, Toronto Raptors and the San Antonio Spurs. Further they have lost their lone games against the Golden State Warriors and the Houston Rockets.

As the standings are currently constituted, the Los Angeles Clippers are the only team the Celtics have not faced that has a superior win-loss record.

One positive to take out these games is that they have lost in single figures in seven out of the eight games. The glaring issue, however, has been the amount of points they have allowed the opposition.

Over the eight games, they have given up an average of 111.9 points per game on 48.1 percent shooting from the field. If this number was over the course of the season, it would represent the second-most points allowed in the league and the worst field goal percentage allowed.

As touched upon earlier, the Celtics’ offense has been quite consistent throughout the season. So while as whole the team seems to be heading in the right direction, some of their key pieces could be holding the Celtics back from taking the next step.

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