The Celtics are rolling. They are now 12-1 in March and 19-4 since February 1. They’ve played their last two months at a 68-win pace, the same pace the Cavs and Thunder were on when they separated themselves earlier this season. They are now just four wins behind the Cavs and back on pace to win 60 games, just four fewer than last season.
What’s the difference between four games? Probably five to 10 possessions.
The Celtics went through a mid-season swoon that got people asking questions, but one thing always stood out during that December-to-January mediocrity: their problems were based on either a lack of overall effort, or cold shooting. There was never anything schematic that was broken. There was never anything personnel-wise that threw the balance off.
Over the past two months, the Celtics have stabilized and have gotten closer to being their true selves. Or to put it another way, they're starting to peak at the right time.
“We're looking good. We're playing well,” Kristaps Porzingis said. “We're adding some small twists to our offense that I think are necessary … we’re moving the ball well, which is the important part. And as I keep saying, I wanted to peak at the right moment, at the most important moment. And I think as a team, we're heading in that direction.”
Porzingis has been a beacon of positivity all season long. After a rough January loss to Sacramento, Porzingis said “it’s more difficult this season, probably. It’s normal, I think. But we’ve just got to find a way how to keep chipping away. We don’t need to peak right now. But we need to peak at the right moment as a team and I’m confident we’ll get there.”
His confidence is paying off.
Boston’s 3-point shooting has picked up, with percentages in February and March hitting their second and third-highest points of the season, which equals about seven more points per game than in January. February and March have also been their two best overall months in terms of field goal percentage. Their efficiency is back at its peak, with their true shooting percentage climbing back over the .600 mark after dips to .578 and .574 in December and January.
Boston’s offense is running more smoothly, which shows up in their 26.8 assists per game in March, their best monthly average of the season. They’ve hit 26 or more assists eight times in 13 games this month and 30-plus three times.
The Celtics are also excelling in other areas as well. Their 12.2 offensive rebounds per game in March is their highest monthly average this season. Their 11.1 turnovers per game is their lowest monthly average this year. And their 15.5 fouls per game in March is the fewest they’ve committed.
The Celtics defense is finding its groove. They were not very good defensively earlier this season. They had a fair amount of games where they simply tried to out-shoot teams. This month, they’ve been holding opponents to 87.2 field goal attempts per game, the lowest average of the season. They have also allowed season-lows in free throws made (11.5) and attempted (16.6). The trade-off has been an uptick in 3-pointers allowed and made, but as we remember, there have been some outlier shooting performances in that regard.
We’ve seen the Celtics win in different ways over the past couple of months. Everyone who has played meaningful minutes has had a major impact on games. We’ve seen Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown combine for more points than any other Celtics teammates ever. Then we saw Derrick White and Payton Pritchard top it. Then Sam Hauser hit a career-high and Baylor Scheierman set his own twice.
“The strength of our group is the team,” Brown said. “No one person, no two people or three make our team. We got a great unit, and I think that's what's made us so good over the years, and especially last year, is that any given night, any one of our guys can take over a game and add to winning. So we just need to keep emphasizing that, especially in the playoffs, when the games get tougher. So to have our guys ready to go feeling good confidence shooting the ball, well, it's a great sign for us.”
The Celtics walked into Phoenix last night with Tatum decked out in Duke blue instead of Celtics green and demolished a team fighting for their playoff lives. They are perfect on this road trip so far and they have a chance to be the best road team in NBA history. The struggles of the winter have been wiped away like 4:30 p.m. sunsets.
Championship teams find ways to put it together at the right time, and now is the right time for the Celtics to start playing their best basketball of the season.