7 telling stats about the Celtics' seven-game winning streak

A look at a few notable numbers and trends from the Celtics’ seven-game winning streak.

1. The Celtics have the best defense in the league over the past two weeks (allowing just 92.9 points/100 possessions).They have also overcome some early offensive woes to rank fourth in the NBA in offensive efficiency (107.9 points/100 possessions). That kind of production has enabled Brad Stevens to turn this team into a true two-way threat that can win a game on either side of the floor every night.  

2. The defensive rebounding has remained steady (top-10), but it’s actually the offensive rebounding that has given the Celtics a bigger boost. Despite playing with a small-ball lineup for significant stretches of games, they have the fourth best offensive rebounding rate in the last seven games. Nearly everyone is chipping in on this front as six rotation players are actually averaging at least one offensive rebound per game, led by Aron Baynes (2.1), Al Horford (1.7) and Daniel Theis (1.7).

3. The Celtics have been above-average from beyond the arc (38.4 percent) as a team, and there have been a few players that have been off the charts with their numbers, namely Al Horford (53.8 percent) and Jayson Tatum (54.5 percent). Those accuracy rates are incredible when you consider both players are putting up over three attempts per game. Jaylen Brown (43 percent) has been terrific as well, but his jump is largely a product of a 5-of-6 shooting night from deep against the Kings.  

4. The winning has come despite some woeful shooting from Marcus Smart and Terry Rozier. While the guards have made some measurable jumps in other aspects of their game (Smart with his passing, Rozier on the defensive end), it’s been the same old story for both players with their scoring offense. Smart is actually shooting worse from two-point range (28 percent) than 3-point range (30 percent) over the past seven games, while Rozier has dipped in both areas (36% FG, 27% 3pt) compared to last year. Those splits should improve for both players over the course of the year, but it is encouraging that Boston has been managing to win in spite of them in the meantime.

5. Space without the pace? In past seasons, Brad Stevens has emphasized an up tempo offensive attack to help the Celtics get out in transition and create easy buckets against opposing teams that haven’t set their defenses. Boston is still being opportunistic when it comes to those chances, but they aren’t putting nearly as much of a premium on running a speedy offense compared to the rest of the NBA. The C’s rank a mere 26th in pace during the streak, which I’d attribute in large part to the deliberate, effective offensive games of newcomers like Kyrie Irving and Jayson Tatum.    

6. The Celtics have a +15.0 net rating during the run. That's the highest mark in the NBA, with even the vaunted Warriors trailing by a couple of points (+12.6) in that category.

7. Jaylen Brown is getting to the free throw line an average of 5.1 times per game, leading the team. Brown has struggled with his accuracy rate though, making just 55.6 percent of his freebies, the lowest mark on the team.