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Irish Coffee: Do Celtics own NBA’s best defense? 04.09.12 at 2:03 pm ET
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Over their last five games, the Celtics have held the Heat, Spurs, Bulls, Pacers and 76ers — all likely playoff-bound teams — to just 80.6 points per game. That ridiculous stretch included the lowest scoring output of the Miami Thrice era and Indiana’s worst offensive game this season (both 72 points).

The point? A case can be made, rather easily, that the C’s now own the NBA’s best defense.

This recent run vaulted the Celtics to No. 1 in points allowed per 100 possessions (95.3). Their 89.3 points allowed per game still ranks third behind the only other teams that give up fewer than 90 points a night — the Sixers (88.5) and Bulls (88.9) — but that’s dropped to an NBA best 83.4 points surrendered over the past 10 games.

In fact, as colleague Paul Flannery noted, the Celtics have allowed 80 points or fewer in six of their last 12 games (including four of their last six), holding opponents to 40 percent shooting or worse in eight of those 12 contests.

For the season, the Celtics have held opponents to the league’s lowest field goal percentage (41.8%) and 3-point percentage (29.8%), both still tops in the NBA and even better over the past 10 games (38.7 FG%, 25.2 3P%). They make an offense’s life miserable everywhere on the court, ranking top-10 everywhere from at the rim (3rd) to 3-9 feet (8th) to 10-15 feet (1st) to 16-23 feet (7th) to 3-point range (1st).

Aditionally, the C’s hold teams to the league’s lowest assist rate, meaning only 17.5 percent of opposing possessions result in assists. That’s a lot of one-on-one basketball, and that’s a good thing for the Celtics defense. Doc Rivers despises when his team plays “hero ball,” so he must love seeing other teams play it against his.

Per 100 possessions, the C’s 15.6 blocks (5th) and 14.7 percent turnover rate (5th) aren’t shabby, either.

All five of the current Celtics starters rank among the top 62 overall defenders in the league this season in terms of points allowed per possession, according to Synergy Sports Technology.

Celtics guard Avery Bradley (left) has helped return the Celtics to the NBA's defensive throne. (AP)

Player: points allowed per possession (rank)

Brandon Bass: 0.63 (9th)
Avery Bradley: 0.70 (21st)
Kevin Garnett: 0.73 (33rd)
Rajon Rondo: 0.74 (41st)
Paul Pierce: 0.76 (62nd)

Improvement in the Celtics defense since the All-Star break is no fluke. Rivers made two significant changes to the lineup: 1) moving his best and most vocal team defender (Garnett) to center; and 2) inserting both a great one-on-one defender (Bradley) and a very good post defender (Bass) into the starting lineup.

Those adjustments allowed Bradley and a reinvigorated Rondo to cement a group of guards that has allowed an NBA best 31.1 points per contest to opposing backcourts over the last 10 games. Bradley and an engaged Rondo require less help defensively, allowing Garnett and Bass to hold down the fort rather than cheating from the post.

As a result, the Celtics starting lineup owns a ridiculous efficiency differential (+20.1) that’s 32.2 percent better than the league’s next-best team since the All-Star break and even more absurdly good (+30.6) — or 37.8 percent better than the second-ranked Thunder starters — over the last 10 games.

Sprinkle in some shot-blocking and rebounding from reigning D-League Defensive Player of the Year Greg Stiemsma, whose adjustment to the team’s defensive schemes has improved tremendously, and the Celtics now own the best defense in the NBA — one that may only improve should Mickael Pietrus return.

(Have a question, concern or conception for tomorrow’s Irish Coffee? Send a message to @brohrbach on Twitter.)

Read More: Avery Bradley, Boston Celtics, Doc Rivers, Kevin Garnett Print  |  Email  |  Bark It Up!  |  Digg It
  • Chappy

    The Flames are obviously thrilled that any team would give a #1 and prospects for a player that will be driving a Zamboni in 2 yrs…..the Bruins ought to feel fortunate that someone rescued them from their own rope. Goaltending and defense win championships, not 35+ yr old forwards. The B’s would be wise to do whatever it takes to get a good-skating big body D-man who can move the puck and throw his weight around. Andrew Ference, while a good guy, has been killing us all year with turnover after turnover in our own end and he doesn’t intimidate anyone. Chara, Seidenburg, Boychuk, Hamilton (he’s only going to improve), and stay-at-home McQuaid are a decent 5 – we need 2 more that can do the job.

    • tukka

      i agree… also i think by adding a good d-man it will help with the 3rd period meltdowns

    • fab4ever

      Agreed here as well…screw him…frankly, his coming to Boston isn’t going to change much….they need a puck carrying defenseman more than anything….especially after watching last night…

  • Troll Hunter

    Lol, what a lying sack of crap. Just come out and say you wanted to go to Pitt instead of Boston and cut out the “it wasn’t fully my choice” garbage.

    • Uncle Buck

      Yep. Save the spin for the media, they’re better at it. Hey if I had a chance to play with Crosby, I’d make the same choice. Move on, and let’s go get the D man from the Islanders that everyone is talking about (Strait ?)and see if Mr. St. Louis wants to come up to Boston and play with a real hockey team.

  • dave

    Brutal night all around for the Bruins. Beat by the Canadians , Beat by Crosby & the Penguins… Cough up two, two goal leads…. Again ! Seem to be going in the wrong direction.

  • dmm1047

    When Iginla gave the Flames his list of teams that he would agree to be traded to, that should have locked him into any deal the Flames made with those teams. And if the Flames made the deal with the Bruins–that’s it, there should have been no backing out. It should have went to the league within minutes for approval. So the question here is: did the Flames agree to the deal with the Bruins or was there a “yeah, but we’ll see what Iginla has to say.?” I think the Flames screwed the Bruins and the league should look into it. It smells.

  • tony

    who cares, you washed up anyways

  • mike

    Couldn’t win a cup in Calgary.. join an all-star team like Lebron did.

  • TD Garden UpperDeck

    BBBBBBBBBBBBOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

  • Bruinman86

    Talk about BS. He called the shots, period. Admit and move on. Perhaps the Bruins are better off with him. We’ll see once the final trades are made and by what they ended up with.

    • Uncle Buck

      What do you think of St. Louis coming here ?

      • Bruinman86

        I’m luke warm about it given his cap hit. He is skilled, but older than Iginla and is slowing down. I want a puck moving defensman like Mark Streit of the Islanders, but I’m hearing Ryan Whitney of the Oilers. Also Ryane Clowe of the Sharks is on their radar as a forward who’s having a poor year there. Whatever we get, I want skill and grit. Tough to get.

  • NYCBruinsFan

    That’s okay. We’ll see how he feels later watching the B’s in the Stanley Cup finals sitting at home after Chara and Looch punish him against the boards during the Eastern Conference Finals.

    • Uncle Buck

      I like your attitude. Hope you’re right.

  • Linda Austin

    Stop lying Jarome.

    • http://www.facebook.com/shawn.harrington.144 Shawn Harrington

      Spin, Spin Jarome… just be honest, I would respect you more. I get you wanted to play with Sid and it was all about you and not helping the organization you were leaving.

  • Chill out

    Lol, love the haters. No wonder he didn’t want to go to Boston. You know, the GM could have been tougher in his stance, it certainly wasn’t all in the player’s hands. Feaster could have said “No we need the Boston deal more so it’s there or nowhere.” There wouldn’t be any return, but there wasn’t much return anyway. There was nothing in writing about waiving the no trade clause and Feaster never should have said the deal was done. Don’t be surprised if some back room deal was struck for Jerome to resign with Calgary to finish his career there when he enters free agency. As far as being a liar, he’s not wrong when he says it wasn’t all his choice. Feaster could have said no and looked like he missed out rather than he got robbed. Oh, and I think the Bruins are an amazing team, Character is a monster, Bergeron is a beast and Marchand is a big game player. Even after Thomas flaked they were still deep enough in nets to have a killer season. Just chill, enjoy your team and be sure that your GM will make an interesting deal this or next week.

  • chokers

    The Team sucks plain and simple no toughtness and they could not score if there was no one in.the net

  • Titletown1

    Hmmm, wouldn’t do any good at this point to mention once again that this team needs a goal-scorer, would it? It’s been the one consistent thing about this team all year.

    Come playoff time, this team will be fine defensively. They need goal-scorers, period. If I’m the GM, everyone is up for trade discussion: Lucic, Horton, Krecji……this team needs a serious shake-up.
    A few years ago, this team could score one goal and have a chance to win with TT in the net, not anymore…

  • bruinsfan

    maybe they can still get iginla oops

  • Gman

    I’m now to the point where I have to ask everyone this. Are the players tuning out Claude Julien?
    Also a question for DJ Bean. Since when does Mike Knuble play for the Islanders?

  • Fred

    the problem with the Bruins is the whinning. it starts at the top with Claude. Couple weeks ago they lost Montreal and Claude was whinning about referee and habs embelishment instead of taking ownership of the loss.

    You do that, your players are gonna think, “Hey it’s not our fault” and then what’s happening now is ok, cause it’s not their fault.

  • wheeler

    nice game looch….another no show…..looch for wayne simmonds…..

  • NE1935

    Bad formula and combination. Helter Skelter offense with very few quality shots. Terrible defense in their own zone. Offense everyone crowded on the puck and no separation for quality shots on goal. Hurry up to go nowhere. 0 Finesse.

  • Shoe bottom

    I am sick of reasons,cliches,superstition,effort ettccc. This team is no better than any other NHL team league wide. Where most teams and players would have built off that 2011 cup the opposite has happened here and we are fat,slow,content,happy, stick to the system god we are like slapshot before the hansons showed up. Clean this house now or this summer which will come to us very fast anyways. I am tired of complaining toooooo.

  • glenn88

    If the first or second line has an off day, then this team just can’t score. First line played OK outside of Horton, who should have at least scored twice today. He went 1-2 on open nets and drilled a couple more scoring chances into the chest of the goaltender. This team desperately needs a shake up.

  • Bill_hicks

    You guys want to make trades, the brass speaks of making trades. But, nobody is going to trade an all-star for garbage in return. Of course Tampa wasn’t going to trade St. Louis to the Bruins – look at the offers. It wouldn’t help Tampa next year – Tampa is a year away. Tampa needs a goalie and a mobile blue-liner. Jagr could be traded, but the Stars want something – Charelalamalamading-dong doesn’t want to trade the core – Well one of them has to go to make a real trade. I wouldn’t want Loooch back in a trade if I was another GM would you? Of course, the most glaring issue is there is no Thomas. I posted the last time Boston’s leftist media and many fans ran him out of town. I got back he ran himself out of town from one poster. Well – if he spouted off liberal crap instead of libertarian crap the media would have left him alone. Moral of the story: You judge a person/player on their politics instead of their play it may end up in a disagreement – or in an opposite majority party area the player might just pack it up. In this case, I have never seen an octopus like this since maybe Hasek for a couple of years. We are talking about a goalie at Roy, Dryden, Brodeur levels. Many of you let your octopus go over politics and both parties suck!

  • Bill_hicks

    You guys want to make trades, the brass speaks of making trades. But, nobody is going to trade an all-star for garbage in return. Of course Tampa wasn’t going to trade St. Louis to the Bruins – look at the offers. It wouldn’t help Tampa next year – Tampa is a year away. Tampa needs a goalie and a mobile blue-liner. Jagr could be traded, but the Stars want something – Charelalamalamading-dong doesn’t want to trade the core – Well one of them has to go to make a real trade. I wouldn’t want Loooch back in a trade if I was another GM would you? Of course, the most glaring issue is there is no Thomas. I posted the last time Boston’s leftist media and many fans ran him out of town. I got back he ran himself out of town from one poster. Well – if he spouted off liberal crap instead of libertarian crap the media would have left him alone. Moral of the story: You judge a person/player on their politics instead of their play it may end up in a disagreement – or in an opposite majority party area the player might just pack it up. In this case, I have never seen an octopus like this since maybe Hasek for a couple of years. We are talking about a goalie at Roy, Dryden, Brodeur levels. Many of you let your octopus go over politics and both parties suck!

    • Fab4ever

      ZZZ..do you feel better now? Thanks for the class in political science.

  • NYCBruinsFan

    I did the same and skipped the game for a day with the family. I’m glad I missed the furstration. I’m trying my best to remain optimistic this season, but come on…. The Flyers. We need a shake up to wake up.

  • Cambee

    Here is the sad thing!

    Without Berg line, the B’s are a .500 team. Lucic has been horrible this year, which is just continuing from last season. Chara is getting slow in his decision making process. Claude is finally showing that he is a so-so coach.

    I feel for management. They have few assets that they could trade to improve the 1st line. There is no other team in NHL with such a horrible +- on the 1st line.

    At this rate, they will be 1st round team.

    • sniper

      Claude Julien is a terrific coach, but I would totally jump on the bandwagon saying that Lucic and Chara are two incredibly overrated players on the Bruins. Chara is a slow putz, who seems to only make poor decisions about 80% of the time of every game. As for Lucic, lets not get me started with that bag of worthless waste. Seriously, he should be traded immediately tired of seeing him drag his feet around the ice… he sucks

  • wheeler

    well fab, when a player signs that he will accept a trade to these 3 teams, it should be binding. feester let jarome dictate to him where he was going and what the trade was….since when do the inmates direct the managers as to where they go? this is bad for managemant in the NHL

  • Bruinman86

    Well, you are a better man than I. I often turn the channel to keep from getting too aggravated. It was such a nice day out, I decided to pass on the game. They way they have played lately brings me to a boil way too quickly, so mother nature won out! I see I didn’t miss much. All I can say is MAKE A FREAKING TRADE ALREADY!!! this team needs a slap int he face to break out of this complacency funk they have been in. Something they have pulled from time to time for the last few years. Besides, wait too long to pull the trigger and there won’t be anyone left to trade for nor will they get the time together to gel before the playoffs. (Que Jim Mora Clip about Playoffs)

  • fab4ever

    Ha…Playoffs! Playoffs? Something tells me they’ve given up….I dunno…

  • Bruinman86

    Lucic, Chara and Seidenberg all look like they have only been skating for a week now. It’s like they are in slow-motion.

  • Fab4ever

    I’m one who thinks Lucic has been a problem for awhile..we keep hearing about these “skills ” he has but frankly, what I see is a very big guy who looks like he belongs in college hockey, not the NHL..

  • Bruinman86

    It’s been way too tempting for many to compare him to Neely because of his goal scoring ability and toughness. Trouble is that he sleepwalks through many games and hurts the team. I know he often sets the table for the team in regards to energy and hitting, but if he can’t be more consistent then he needs to go. What good is an energy type of player who doesn’t show up?? Meanwhile have a happy Easter to you and yours.

  • fab4ever

    Ditto…same to you and yours…..

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