Questionable Celtic defense ?

Here's a look at the Celts defense since the first 18 games thru 12-20-17.

https://fansided.com/2017/12/26/nylon-calculus-deflections-nba-star-wars/.


swish

Fatigue perhaps?


KJ

Or perhaps it's water still seeking its own level.

swish

Swish I am less concerned about their defense than their offense.

This team has experience a lot of injuries, changes to both the lineups and the rotation and the opposition is not standing still.  What may have work earlier may not work now.

In spite of the defensive decline this team is still more than capable of shutting teams down. That is part of why they are rarely out of a game.

Every Team out there has one or more players than can become unstoppable during a stretch of the game.  Looks like every team is pretty much running the same things.  Teams with prolific offenses are extremely difficult to beat.  

The Celtics have 24 games left to start their 2nd season.

I do think that things will get better.

From NBA.COM Advanced Stats ...The Celts have 5 of the top ten players in defensive rating in the entire NBA:

Defensive Rating
1. Aron BaynesBOS 96.2
2. Dejounte MurraySAS 96.2
3. Fred VanVleetTOR 97.9
4. Terry RozierBOS 98.8
5. Marcus SmartBOS 98.9
6. Jayson TatumBOS 99.4
7. Joel EmbiidPHI 99.6
8. Shaun LivingstonGSW 99.7
9. Jaylen BrownBOS 99.9
10. Pau GasolSAS 100.1

And look at who is 9th in the NBA in turnover %. Imagine we had both Kelly and Isaiah on our team last year. No wonder our D has improved.
Turnover Percentage
1. Tyson ChandlerPHX 17.45
2. Frank NtilikinaNYK 16.65
3. Bismack BiyomboORL 15.93
4. DeMarcus CousinsNOP 15.75
5. Kyle O'QuinnNYK 15.67
6. Mason PlumleeDEN 15.60
7. Dwight HowardCHA 15.59
8. Dragan BenderPHX 14.93
9. Kelly OlynykMIA 14.82
10. Ed DavisPOR 14.79

Basketball defense in Boston revolves around Marcus Smart period. No one leads by example better than Smart on our team, and he has been absent for over two weeks already with the cut sustained while punching a picture frame out in Los Angeles.

He is the main cog for the Cs defense, and the defensive attitude and confidence sets the offense.

Games are being lost due to him being out for so long because the team attitude has changed.

Plus 2

Looks like we have a difference of opinion here - centered around an eyeball point of view vs a stat view.  I noticed that the Celtics great start actually included the 1st 26 games so I now have split the season at the 26 game level.
 First 26 games.
   Celtics,,, 22 wins -  4 loses,,,, Marcus did not play in 2 games - Celts won both.
   Team offense,,, Celts 104.5 points per game
   Team defense,,, Celts 97.2 points per game
  Last 32 games
  Marcus played in 22 games,,, Celts won 12 - lost 10,,, Team offense 100.5 - team defense 99.5
  Marcus missed 10 games,,, Celts won 6 - lost 4,,, team offense 103.9 - team defense 103 6
   
  Over the last 32 games the Celts have a .563 winning percent
 12-10 with Marcus -  .545 percent
 6-4 without Marcus -  .600 percent

  swish
Note: Add on information ,,, 2/14/18 ,,, 8:33 pm

First 26 games ,,, Offense 104.5 points per game ,,, Defense 97.2 points per game ,,, Margin of victory = 7.3 points per game
Last 32 games ,,, Offense 102.2 points per game ,,, Defense 101.6 points per game ,,, Margin of victory = 0.6 points per game

swish

It's one thing to lose Smart, but forcing Al into center and Morris at PF doesn't seem productive. I'd rather the team score a bit less, yet retain its defensive identity.

Monroe and Smart remain the two biggest wild cards and probably the best chances to restore Celtic dominance. I'm talking just this year, right now. I'm hoping the team figures it out in the remaining quarter season. Wins and losses don't mean that much. Getting the second or third seed will not hurt the team's chances as long as everyone is healthy and playing together for the playoffs like earlier in the season.

I'm still hopeful. A properly played win tonight would help a lot. The team is currently fragile. It would hurt to take another beating and have to stew over it for a week and a half.