Before you break out your pitchforks and torches to go after Dan Favale of Bleacher Report for poo-pooing the notion of the Boston Celtics hanging Banner 18 this summer, let it be known the B/R NBA analyst did the same for every team in the league as a thought experiment for each club’s potentially fatal flaw.
For the Celtics, Favale believes ” Boston’s marriage to the 3-ball” could be its downfall. “Minimal rim pressure is a byproduct of the Celtics’ live-and-die-by-the-3 model,” he writes, noting star forward Jayson Tatum has been among the worst high-volume 3-point shooters in the NBA this season in terms of efficiency.
“A healthy Robert Williams III arms them with a career rim-runner and helps some,” hedges Favale, who notes the “offense still places in the 12th percentile of rim pressure when he’s on the floor.”
Some of the greatest players to play the game have suited up for Boston at the 5 over the course of the organization’s storied history. https://t.co/fi2jaVc5PH
— The Celtics Wire (@TheCelticsWire) April 15, 2023
The B/R analyst doesn’t see the Atlanta Hawks as a serious threat to Boston, but these concerns get “dicier when projecting ahead to potential matchups with the Philadelphia 76ers, Milwaukee Bucks or Cleveland Cavaliers.”
As much as we would like to disagree, Favale is correct in surmising the weakness of Boston in finding other sorts of easy baskets with consistency. If they truly want to prove this estimation wrong, finding some success in the midrange, in particular, could prove key.
We’re looking at you, Jaylen Brown, given that is as much your forte on this team as anyone.
Listen to the “Celtics Lab” podcast on:
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