Boston Celtics: 3 ways to improve before the playoffs

2. Shot Making

This one is fairly simple to explain, and almost directly correlates to the team’s lack of consistent health.

Since the All-Star break, the Boston Celtics have failed to play a single game with a full team. Therefore, lesser caliber players are filling in, and are being forced to adjust to roles they are not used to or even comfortable with.

Even Brad Stevens has noted the lack of healthy players, saying the following to NBC Sports Boston’s Erin Walsh after a loss to the Brooklyn Nets:

"“I have no idea who is going to Cleveland,” Stevens said. “I think most of the coaches are going, a couple of players. I just want eight, nine guys, whoever is going to play hard, let’s go. Like, that was ridiculous.”"

Before the All-Star break, Boston was shooting a respectable 46.3 percent from the floor, which wasn’t too bad considering their nightly rotation kept differing.

Since that break though, the Boston Celtics are 26th, tied with the Raptors and Atlanta Hawks.

Jayson Tatum has cooled off as of late, especially with teams starting to trap him in the half-court, leading to unnecessary turnovers and disruption in the offensive flow.

In the end, shooting that poorly isn’t the end of the world. However, it needs to be shored up by the time the playoffs begin, because shooting that way consistently will make it tough to win a singular playoff game, never mind four from the same team.