After the 96-93 loss last night to the Detroit Pistons, the Celtics remain immersed in mediocrity with a record of 3-3. It is obvious that they miss Gordon Hayward - lost to free agency - but it is Kemba Walker's lingering knee injury that is keeping them from a consistent winning record.
Let's face it, the present Celtics squad needs to play more team ball. They ranked 25th last season with 23.0 assists per game. This year, The Green rank 22nd at 22.5 APG. Thus far, they lost a combined nine APG from Hayward and Walker, but Marcus Smart has ably picked up facilitation duties, and Jeff Teagues addition has helped in that category.
Two of the main culprits keeping Boston from winning more games are the teams inability (or unwillingness) to hit the boards and its ineffectiveness in putting points on the board. They ranked 8th in the NBA last season in rebounds/game, averaging 46.1 RPG. They are mired at 24th place this year, pulling down only 42.3 RPG. The team misses Enes Kanter's 7.4 boards per contest, but Tristan Thompson improved that production with 8.6 RPG. But the Celtics could certainly use Hayward's 6.7 RPG from last season.
Point-production may be the major flaw for Boston. They were ranked 9th last season at 113.7 points per game and are only averaging 109.8 PPG - ranked 17th - for 2020-21. The combined point-production of 38 points per game from Gordon and Kemba are sorely missed. Beyond the points they put up, Walker's razzle-dazzle offensive moves and Hayward's craftiness opened up opportunities for their teammates for easy baskets.
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