How the Celtics have turned into an offensive juggernaut

The growing pains for the Celtics’ offense over the first quarter of the regular season were glaring. A mix of poor chemistry within the starting five, subpar shooting, questionable shot selection and a tough schedule produced an offense that ranked 24th in the NBA through the first 19 games of the year (104 points per 100 possessions). The struggles had everyone on the roster looking themselves in the mirror and wondering just how good this group was after falling to the .500 mark in Dallas at 10-10.

It hasn’t been all sunshine and roses since then by any means. Injuries have piled up, team meetings have been held and ugly losses (at home vs. Phoenix) have popped up. Still, it’s tough to ignore the strides this group has made. They have the best record in the league (14-6) over the past 20 games (albeit against a soft schedule) after beating the Mavericks 114-93 on Friday night in a win littered with positives.

While going 14-6 over 20 games isn’t anything to write home about for a team that was expected to win over 55 games this year, the manner in which they are winning games is worth noting. The team that could barely score to start the season is long gone. Instead, the Celtics have transformed into the NBA’s best offense over the past 20 games.

The numbers don’t lie on this front. The Celtics have the No. 1 offense in the NBA since the halfway mark of their season, scoring 114.5 points per 100 possessions over the last 19 games. That’s a tremendous leap when you consider Al Horford, Kyrie Irving, Jaylen Brown and Gordon Hayward have all missed multiple games during that stretch. Irving and Morris were sidelined on Friday night, yet the Celtics’ offense showed no signs of slowing down thanks to more consistent contributions across the board. Let’s take a closer look at what has led to this turnaround and whether it’s sustainable as the C’s try to claw their way back into the top half of the Eastern Conference playoff picture.

3-point shooting: Nine players made a 3-point shot during Friday’s win as Boston hit the third-most 3s (19) in franchise history. After dying by the 3 during the early parts of the regular season, the Celtics are very much living by it now. Over the last 19 games, nine players on the roster are shooting over 35 percent from downtown and that doesn’t include a top scorer like Jayson Tatum (34 percent).  Brown (21 points, 2-of-4 from 3-point range) has appeared to snap out of his early-season funk (36.2 percent from 3 over last 19) in this past stretch while Horford (48 percent) has been lights out on most nights since returning from his knee injury. Only Aron Baynes (16 percent) has been a net negative of late in this area and he’s been on the sidelines for weeks now.

With nearly five capable shooters on the floor at all times, this is the offense Brad Stevens envisioned at the start of the year. They picked the Mavericks apart on Friday night and have been doing that regularly to defenses over the past month. Overall, they are the third best 3-point shooting team in the league (38 percent) since late November.

Improved ball movement: On Wednesday night, the Celtics matched their season high in assists (34). On Friday night, they set a new season-high (35). Now before you start saying the Celtics ball movement looks better without Irving, know this is a trend that has lasted longer than two games. Boston has dished out 30-plus assists in eight of their last 18 games and it’s evident that the focus on good ball movement for months now is having an impact.

“One of our issues last year was we were a lower assists-to-field goals-made team than we’ve been for a lot of the last few years, so we’ve really tried to emphasize that all year,” Stevens explained after the win. “And it’s been – we’ve had multiple 30-assists games and our averages are way up and the assists-to-field-goals-percentage is way up, so that’s all positive.

“Even when we were struggling at the beginning, we had some high-assist games. But when we shoot those really tough ones that are not potentially assisted, that’s when we get in trouble; if we string a bunch of those together. We had a couple of those tonight but for the most part everybody was in a good rhythm and playing well together and seeking out the right shot, and we’ve just to keep doing that as much as possible.”

It’s evident that there is better chemistry forming now, particularly with some lineup groupings. The new starting five (when healthy) have been scoring at an elite level, but Hayward and Brown are starting to build some chemistry now as well as bench mates. The learning curve is coming to an end and guys are finding their spots.

“I think we’re moving the basketball, guys were cutting, spacing was pretty good for the most part,” Hayward said. “It was fun. I think people knew where their teammates were going to be. I think when we have good spacing, we have talented players, it just makes the game easier. If you make the right read and everybody gets involved, it’s fun.”

From the first half of the year, the Celtics have increased their assists total by three per game (from 24 to 27). Making more baskets help on that front, but it’s clear the ball is moving much better now too.

Better scoring balance: Even with the team’s top two scorers sidelined, the Celtics managed to get five players in double figures on Friday night and that’s a trend that has been consistent over the past month-plus. It’s been rare to see this group fully healthy together but when they are, everyone is doing a better job of contributing their fair share. Six different players are averaging 12 points per game or more over the last 19 games (Irving, Morris, Horford, Hayward, Tatum, Brown) while Terry Rozier and Marcus Smart aren’t far behind at nine points per game.

“We got some talent in this locker room,” Brown said. “That doesn't mean nothing of course, because we got to win games and we struggled early, but we got some real good players here. I've got unwavering support from my teammates, our coaching staff, our front office. We get out there and we get put into a position with an opportunity to play basketball and have fun.”

More room for growth?

The most encouraging part of this stretch for Boston? They have the best offense in the league despite ranking 29th in free-throw rate. That area will never be a strength for this group, but they are certainly more capable of getting to the charity stripe on a regular basis, particularly as Hayward gets healthier and Brown finds his consistency.

When the Celtics have lost games lately, it’s been primarily due to some defensive dropoff (Houston, San Antonio, Milwaukee) against elite teams that are playing well. The Celtics have cleaned some things up in the past two games while playing undermanned against two above-average offenses in Minnesota and Dallas, and that’s something this group is striving towards as they try to get rolling on both ends of the floor simultaneously.

“Defense, that's what we've hung our hat on the last two games,” said Brown. “We've really established ourselves on the ball and it made everything else easy. Once everybody else does their job, everyone is on the same page offensively, our system is good enough to put people in the right spots. We're going to score the ball, but we got to get stops.”

With nine of their next 13 games coming at the TD Garden, the opportunity is there for this group to really put together an elite stretch of basketball and climb back towards the top of the East (4.5 games back of No. 1 spot). It’s not going to be easy with the Bucks and Raptors playing at a high level but the ingredients are starting to come together for this group. They are a top-10 team in defensive and offensive efficiency for the first time all year and that’s usually a prerequisite of a title contender. Now, it comes down to whether this group can start stringing some consistent efforts together on both ends.

“Celtic basketball, we play harder than any other team. We gotta continue to do that and get back to that and maintain that,” Brown admitted.

As Irving and Morris return to the lineup next week, we’ll find out if this group has finally turned the corner. For now, it appears they have on at least one end of the floor.