Without Isaiah Thomas, Marcus Smart and Jaylen Brown taking advantage of opportunities for Boston Celtics

http://www.masslive.com/celtics/index.ssf/2016/12/without_isaiah_thomas_marcus_s.html




Without Isaiah Thomas, Marcus Smart and Jaylen Brown taking advantage of opportunities for Boston Celtics




Boston Celtics guard Marcus Smart takes the ball down court during the second half of an NBA basketball game against the Miami Heat, Monday, Nov. 28, 2016, in Miami. (AP Photo/Wilfredo Lee)


Jay King | mjking@masslive.com By Jay King | mjking@masslive.com





on December 13, 2016 at 7:00 AM





SAN ANTONIO -- Despite what some sports radio hosts might lead you to believe, the Boston Celtics are not a better team without Isaiah Thomas. They are different, though, and the All-Star's absence has encouraged two promising developments: the rise of Marcus Smart, true point guard, and the continued development of rookie Jaylen Brown.

Let's start with Smart, who still has not figured out how to deliver the ball consistently into the basket. Though he has made strides in his intermediate game, the three staples of efficient scoring (layups, drawn free throws, and made 3-pointers) remain huge issues for the 6-foot-4, 220-pounder. Now in his third year, it's fair to start wondering (or continue wondering, I guess) whether he will ever figure out ways to overcome those deficiencies -- and whether his flaws will doom him forever to life as a deeply flawed scorer. Despite adding to his low-post repertoire and improving on his floaters, Smart is on pace for the worst true shooting percentage of his career, which is stunning because there wasn't far for him to drop. He just hasn't learned how to achieve separation at the rim or knock down shots at a reasonable rate.

It's a shame he can't figure out the whole scoring thing because Smart, always a menacing defender, has evolved in so many other point guardy ways. Never has that been more obvious than over the last three games, when he has averaged 12.0 points. 5.7 assists and 4.3 rebounds while starting for the injured Thomas. Numbers from that stretch of games hint at Smart's mighty importance whenever Thomas sits:


The Celtics have a 112.2 offensive rating and +19.6 net rating with Smart on the court, but a 93.9 offensive rating and -19.0 net rating when he sits.

The Celtics are +42 with Smart on the court, but still 1-2 during that stretch (and -20 without him).

The usual starting lineup, with Smart instead of Thomas, has scored at astronomical levels. Typically a powerful unit, that group has poured in an absurd 126.4 points per 100 possessions with Smart, with all of that coming against good-or-better defenses from Orlando, Toronto and Oklahoma City. While the sample size is tiny (38 minutes), the Smart+starters currently ranks as the sixth-best offensive lineup with at least that much playing time, according to NBA.com.

Think that's all a fluke? Misleading? Well, Smart's last outing against the Thunder served as a showcase for his improvements as a lead ball-handler.

Here he is splitting the seam to Al Horford for a layup:

https://vine.co/v/5x3ti6bxMdK


Here he is cracking into the middle of the defense to free Jae Crowder:

https://vine.co/v/5x3jzZiLdph


Here he is in transition whizzing an assist by Steven Adams:

https://vine.co/v/5x3JqYx0KuE


And here he is drawing a crowd on the baseline to ultimately reward Horford:

https://twitter.com/Tom_NBA/status/808120587637899264?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw

Follow
Tom Westerholm ✔ @Tom_NBA
The Celtics just ran this drive-and-kick/extra pass play twice in a row with the exact same result both times.
5:25 PM - 11 Dec 2016
 1 1 Retweet   2 2 likes


Smart finished with nine assists compared to just two turnovers, all great, but the most impressive part was how he controlled the offense. So many times, he navigated a pick-and-roll into the paint to either A) spray the ball out the perimeter and facilitate an advantage elsewhere, or B) find a teammate already open for an easy look. With the exception of two fourth-quarter turnovers, when he got in trouble for leaving his feet without a real plan, Smart played a brilliant floor game -- and he did so against the Thunder's sixth-ranked defense.

A growing crowd of observers has noted that Smart looks much better with the ball, when he doesn't feel the urge to launch ill-advised 3-pointers, and when he uses his power against smaller guys. But any good team will have other shot creators, like Boston does with Thomas, and Smart still needs to fix some of his ugly scoring issues. Celtics fans will dream about the level he would reach if he could just become a league-average shooter (from inside and out), but for now they should also understand his playmaking improvements are real and promising.


Also real and promising...

... have been Jaylen Brown's last five games, during which the rookie has averaged 8.2 points on 16-for-27 shooting (59.3 percent), including 4-for-7 from behind the arc (57.1 percent). Impressively, he ranks second among Celtics regulars (behind only Smart) in net rating during that span.

During the early parts of the fourth quarter against Oklahoma City, Brown was electric, knocking down a triple, driving for two layups (including an and-1), finishing an alley-oop, and contributing to one of the season's most beautiful plays:

https://twitter.com/Tom_NBA/status/808128311142580224?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw

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Tom Westerholm ✔ @Tom_NBA
This ball movement in transition was perfection. (CC @ByJayKing)
5:56 PM - 11 Dec 2016
 49 49 Retweets   63 63 likes


The performance was a reminder that, in pitching terms, Brown has plenty of stuff. For a team short on wing size behind Jae Crowder, the rookie's emergence is a big deal. The Celtics defense has been almost six points per 100 possessions better with Brown on the court this season, which isn't just a nod to his athleticism and raw ability, but also to the fact that the team's three-guard lineups have been shredded too often.

Mostly because his best players are primarily guards, head coach Brad Stevens has been hesitant to go with too many big perimeter combos. If Brown forces his way into more minutes, the change will help some of Boston's size issues while providing more evidence that, yes, this Celtics rookie has a real chance to become something one day.



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