The 25/26 Boston Celtics Are “Better & Worse” Than Stats Suggest

What Do The Stats Say?

According to statistics, the Celtics are pretty darn good. Two of arguably the most telling stats are a team’s offensive rating — which measures the number of points a team scores per 100 possessions — and its net rating — which measures how many more points a team scores than it allows per 100 possessions. Well, the Celtics rank eight in the NBA in both categories.

Oh, and they also rank 10^th in the league in blocks per game.

So, what gives? How can Boston currently rank 11^th in the Eastern Conference, one spot shy of a ticket to the play-in tournament, with such a strong showing in two key categories? Well, they aren’t very clutch.

What’s The Story Behind The Stats?

Unfortunately for fans of the green and white, Boston hasn’t been very good in close contests. While NBA clutch-time statistics are not yet available at this point in the season, coach Joe Mazzulla’s team is just 3-8 in games decided by 10 points or fewer. Their other four victories have come in blowout fashion, meaning the sample size — just 14 games into the season — is probably too small to put too much stock into the team’s Top 10 statistics.

Another wonky stat for the Celtics this season has been turnovers. Although, perhaps recent suggest the team has taken a turn for the better in that category. As it stands currently, Boston ranks first — that’s right, first — in the NBA in turnovers per game. That being said, the Celtics recorded a season-low six turnovers in Sunday’s win over the Los Angeles Clippers, marking their league-leading sixth game this season with no more than 10 turnovers per game.

What that means is that when the Celtics are bad, they’re bad. But otherwise, they’re not all that bad. Keeping up?

‘I’m Super Optimistic’

For his part, the team’s leading scorer in four-time All-Star Jaylen Brown is optimistic about his team’s prospects going forward. Why not, considering his team heads into Tuesday night having won back-to-back games for only the second time this season.

“We’re continuing to learn, continuing to get better and cleaning up a lot of areas,” Brown told reporters after his team’s win over the Clippers. “I’m super optimistic about the rest of our season. Let’s see how it goes.”

End Of My Celtics Rant

Who knows, maybe the Celtics are on the right track. Boston is 3-1 in its last four games and hasn’t lost back-to-back contests since Nov. 3. Derrick White has seemingly found his shot after a lackluster start to the season from beyond the arc, improving to 2.5 three-pointers-made per game — second only to Anfernee Simons at 2.6.

The Celtics don’t have it easy this year. That’s for sure. But maybe the trends are pointing to greener pastures ahead.