Boston Celtics: 3 takeaways from the month of October

3. Defense is still elite

Last season Celtics’ identity was their defense. This season, that has already been the same early trend. The league as a whole has been scoring a lot more points than usual to start the year off, but that has not been the case when teams come to play Boston.

The most points the team has given up was 113 to the Toronto Raptors. In seven games this season, they’ve limited teams to under 100 points four times. That’s really impressive because high scoring has been a major trend this season. The New York Knicks were able to squeeze in 101 points, just missing the mark of another tally in the under-100-points club.

Last season the Celtics led the league in defensive rating and that has carried over into the month of October. They’re No. 1 in defensive rating with an impressive 96.2 points given up per 100 possessions. They’re one of two teams that are under 100 points in that category, along with the Milwaukee Bucks.

After those two teams, the defensive ratings drops off pretty quickly. The Celtics will need to continue to play defense because their offense has not been there.

The Celtics have had a lot of individual success on defense, with four players in the top-10 in defensive rating among those who have logged at least 15 minutes per game: Terry Rozier, Marcus Smart, Jayson Tatum and Gordon Hayward.

Rozier and Smart highlight the top two players in the NBA. Those two are problems for opposing teams whenever they step on the court. Ratings and stats will change, but this team has looked very good on defense so far.