The start of the 2023-24 NBA season has been kind to the Boston Celtics. With a 14-4 record, Boston currently holds the best record in the NBA. They’re also the last unbeaten team at home in the Eastern Conference.
We can attribute their success to Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown, but Kristaps Porziņģis, who Boston traded for in the offseason, has been the team’s second-best player. Porziņģis is averaging 18.9 points and 6.7 rebounds. His connection with Brown has been captivating. The duo has effectively figured each other out on the offensive side of the basketball.
As a team, the Celtics are the best team in the league in terms of advanced statistics. They own a net rating of 9.7, with the next closest team a full point below. That’s carried by their third-ranked 107.1 defensive rating and eighth-ranked 116.9 offensive rating.
Much of the Celtics’ success is because of their ability to shoot the three-point shot at high volume. Boston currently takes the most threes in the NBA per game with an incredible 43.3 attempts. Head coach Joe Mazzulla has been on record saying the team needs to take as many threes as they can.
Joe Mazzulla said the 3-point attempt rate is the most important stat in basketball today. He also said he didn’t like early that the Nets were getting more 3-point looks than the Celtics.
The three-point shot is falling at a 36% clip for the Boston Celtics, which is just above the league average. However, they hit the most threes in the NBA per game due to their high volume of attempts.
There are other ways to judge the success of the Celtics this season. On the defensive side of the basketball, they’ve been just as good as anyone else. It all starts on that side of the basketball for them, and the addition of Jrue Holiday in the offseason made them even better defensively. Consequently, the Boston Celtics now has arguably the two best defensive guards in the NBA with Derrick White and Holiday.
Against the spread this season, Boston hasn’t been a profitable team throughout the early part of the season, despite the success. They’re just 8-8-2 against the spread.
Even with all of the team success that the Celtics have found throughout the early part of the year, what they do when it matters most is all going to be dependent on superstar Jayson Tatum. The 25-year-old continues to take leaps in this game as he’s averaging 27.7 points, 8.8 rebounds, and 4.1 assists per game.
Tatum also shoots 49.4% from the field and 36.1% from 3-point range, potentially marking the best stats in his career since the 2020 season. As the Boston Celtics navigate the rest of the season, Tatum’s contributions will be pivotal in determining their ultimate success.
