Celtics' dominant defense is back, and should be around for good

For a while there, it was tough to tell whether the Celtics’ defensive struggles in December should be attributed to a hectic schedule or simply regression. Over the first 20 games of the year, the Celtics were far and away the best defensive team in the NBA. They rode that scrappy play and timely playmaking in the fourth quarter to a 16-game winning streak in November that propelled them to the top of the Eastern Conference.

Reality hit in December, however. Injuries piled up, games came every other day and the defense saw some significant slippage over that stretch. Statistically, the Celtics were still on top of the NBA on defense for the season, but they were playing like a middle-of-the-road defense at best in December. Rebounding was a problem again. The Celtics were fouling too much and not forcing many turnovers. They were forced to win games with their offense over this period, which brought forth the question: Was the team’s early defensive dominance a flash in the pan? Or could those struggles be attributed to an undermanned squad simply being overworked with 16 games over 31 days?

I think we’ve got our answer now after the Celtics put the finishing touches on the Minnesota Timberwolves in an ugly 91-84 win. It was the fifth straight win for the Celtics and also the fifth consecutive game they held their opponent to under 42 percent shooting. In four of those games, Boston’s opponents have shot below 38 percent from the field.

Those numbers are noteworthy because of the teams the Celtics are doing it against. The Rockets, Wolves and Cavs are three of the five best offenses in the NBA and the Celtics have beaten all of them over the last eight days. Minnesota (84) and Cleveland (88) both scored season-low point totals in their defeats at the Garden, while the Rockets had the worst shooting half of their season last Thursday night in a huge comeback win for the hosts. Those aren’t coincidences: they are the signs of a rested Celtics team that is leaning on its defense once again to win games again.

“I think the most important thing has been the off time,” Brad Stevens admitted. “But, you know, I thought it helped our defensive intensity. I thought our defensive intensity and focus was great all night, and then to win a game like that against a really good team where you can’t make a shot is, you know, that’s a good thing. Because you’re going to have nights like that, and you just have to find a way.”

The Celtics did just that on Friday night on their worst 3-pointing shooting night of the season (6-of-36). With the starters struggling, Stevens turned to some of his bigger defensive stoppers in Aron Baynes and Daniel Theis off the bench, who teamed up with Al Horford to keep Karl Anthony-Towns from taking over the game entirely (25 points and 23 rebounds) in 42 minutes. The rest of the Wolves roster shot a combined 32 percent from the field (19-of-60) as the Celtics hounded Jimmy Butler, Andrew Wiggins and Taj Gibson into tough shots for most of the night.

“We’re staying locked in for the full shot clock,” Kyrie Irving explained. “We’re a more physical team, bringing the fight to the other team and making it more difficult. We understand that there’s some great players in this league who make some unbelievable plays, but we understand that if we stay disciplined we put ourselves in a great position.”

The improved play has helped the Celtics open up a sizable lead yet again in defensive efficiency over the rest of the league. They’ve allowed just 94 points per 100 possessions over the five-game winning streak, five full points lower than the second-best team in the NBA over the past two weeks. Teams just can’t hit shots against them (43% eFG) and that’s leading to them getting into the win column on some ugly offensive nights of their own.

“That's all effort,” Terry Rozier said after Friday’s win. “Coach said we were playing great at the beginning of the season and then we dropped a little bit. That's something that we can control and something we brought upon ourselves. We brought it down a little bit, but we're playing at a higher level. We're playing to how we were at the beginning of the season. Like I said, it's a long season, it's going to happen sometimes. We just are trying to keep our energy going.”

The good news for the C’s is the second half of the schedule allows for plenty of rest that will make that energy possible on a regular basis. After playing their first 41 games of the year in just 79 days, Friday’s win marked the start of the second half of the year for Boston in which they’ll play another 41 games over 97 days. A four-day break awaits them after a game in Brooklyn on Saturday night before their matchup with the Sixers in London.

“It’s a great feeling,” Marcus Smart said of the turnaround. “I know for the coaching staff it’s really good because they spend a lot of time on offense but also on the defensive end trying to make sure we’re in the right places to succeed. Even when our shots are not falling for us to come through on the defensive end was big for us.”

Once Gordon Hayward went down, defense was the one thing that Stevens he knew this team would need to hang their hat on in order to compete. They’ve found that mojo again, which them in the driver’s seat to hold onto the No. 1 seed in the Eastern Conference for the remainder of the year.