5 big questions facing the Celtics in 2018

A look at five important issues facing the Celtics as the team tips off their 2017-18 campaign on Tuesday night:

1. Will Brad Stevens stick with smaller starting five or tweak as he goes? There’s no question that the head coach will lean on Al Horford at the center spot heavily over the course of the season. However, the early returns from that look during the preseason were largely lackluster. That’s understandable given the new pieces that have to be integrated into the mix after a lengthy absence by both Gordon Hayward and Kyrie Irving in that group. A lack of cohesiveness was evident within the offense as Jaylen Brown and Jayson Tatum settled for longer jumpers at an alarming rate, while Hayward was trying to find his timing back. The key for this lineup to thrive will be the offense outpacing that group’s pitfalls on defense, otherwise, the inclusion of Aron Baynes into the mix in place of a wing might be the smarter choice on some nights. Stevens doesn’t want to go to that look too much unless he has to, but the small-ball starters will have to show they can live up to their potential.

2. How long will it take Gordon Hayward to return to full strength? The minutes limit will be there for the 6-foot-8 wing over the first couple weeks of the regular season as the team works him back into top form on 25-30 minutes per night. While the rust in the preseason was expected, tougher tests will come early for Hayward as he faces some of the best competition in the East right out of the gate. The Celtics won’t have much margin for error on the defensive end with their smallball starting look and it remains to be seen just how much the C’s can afford to let Hayward work through the final stages of his recovery on an NBA floor and still win games. The team won’t need to lean on him for scoring every night but he will be a crucial part of the gameplan in slowing down an opponent’s offense, especially given the weaker defensive links in the starting five (Irving, Tatum). Hayward’s burst isn’t back just yet and things could get dicey at times for the defense if he doesn’t regain it right away.

3. Were the preseason hiccups a bump in the road or a sign of some kind of slippage? A new year with virtually the entire core returning helped the Celtics reach a certain comfort level in their abilities entering year two together. They are the Eastern Conference favorites but they played nothing like it during their four preseason games on both ends of the floor. Outside of a strong shooting first half in the preseason opener, they forced tough shots and made a low percentage of them on the whole, especially from downtown. The lack of ball movement was alarming and the C’s looked like a group that simply wasn’t on the same page among the regulars. Defensively, the issues were even worse in large stretches between the lack of urgency in getting out to shooters and a lack of sharp rotations as a whole. There’s no doubt that the Celtics can play better than this but the lack of progress over the first couple weeks of training camp leaves a bit of mystery heading into the regular season opener. Can the Celtics simply flip the switch when the games start to matter? Or have they fallen into some bad habits over the past few months? We should find out this week whether there is anything to worry about.

4. Can Brad Stevens keep everyone engaged with minutes? It’s a tall task when a coach is dealt nine players on the roster that are capable NBA starters in this league. Every single one of them will be looking to play starter caliber minutes but that’s simply not going to happen on a nightly basis. Sacrifices will need to be made regularly and that’s a lot to ask for a roster that’s full of players in contract seasons (Morris, Rozier, Irving, Theis, Baynes). Winning should make the idea of sacrifice for a lot of those guys easier to swallow but there will be a point where some players feel like they are getting the short end of the stick. Stevens will need to keep his pulse on the locker room to try to eliminate any discontentment before it makes a serious impact on the team.

5. Will Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown take another step forward on both ends? The Celtics couldn’t have asked for more from either player during their 2017-18 campaigns and that put them ahead of schedule for their career development. They will play big minutes again this year but they will be asked to do a bit less on the offensive end with the likes of Irving and Hayward back in the mix. It’s hard to imagine both players matching their numbers from last year in that kind of a role but the C’s will need them to remain efficient shooting weapons on the offensive end in order to be a true contender. Defensively, both guys showed signs of regression in the preseason and that’s going to be an area where they need to focus in on to prevent a sharp defensive dropoff from last year’s elite group. Staying disciplined is more important than ever with Aron Baynes no longer guarding the backline in the starting five and that mindset was not apparent over four exhibition matchups. We’ll see pretty quickly whether the message got through after an extra week of practice ahead of the opener.