ShareThisAt 23-2, the Boston Celtics are off to the start in their rich and storied history.
Here are two examples why:
-- Toronto at Boston on Dec. 10.
It was billed as an early-season showdown, a good, young team in the East coming into Boston to make a statement. One of those games where the Raptors were going to show the Celtics that this was a new year, a new script.
And for a while it looked that way.
The Celtics were 6-1 going into the game, but the Raptors were taking it to them. They had added Jermaine O'Neal over the offseason to go along with the talented Chris Bosh, and had their way with the Celtics, leading much of the way.
And then down the stretch, the Celtics did something that you rarely see in a regular season NBA game: they played defense. Not NBA defense. Not good defense. Great defense. The kind you see good college teams play, where every shot is contested, taking the ball into the paint is worth your life, and offenses stall as if stuck in rush-hour traffic. The defense that you almost never see in the NBA, certainly not in the regular season.
And you could see the Raptors wilt.
O'Neal and Bosh?
They couldn't do anything.
The Toronto offense?
Reduced to throwing up fall-away 3-pointers, their offense all but flat-lined.
It was just for a few minutes, mind you, but it was a snapshot of what this team has turned into, arguably the best defensive team in the NBA, what the Pistons used to be, a team that can beat you with its defense as well as by making shots.
Maybe all we have to know is this is a team that has Paul Pierce, at this stage of his career, after all the money and all the points, playing the best defense of his NBA career. That, in itself, is an amazing accomplishment.
And whether it's because of Kevin Garnett's well-documented defensive intensity, one that the entire team feeds off, or the influence of defensive guru Tom Thibadeau, ultimately it doesn't matter. What matters is this team has bought into it.
-- Boston at Washington on Dec. 11th
This game was on the road last week, and if on the surface it was a typical early-season game, against a bad team off to an atrocious start, the first quarter was extremely telling.
The Wizards play like so many going-nowhere NBA teams, resembling more of a pickup team that plays a couple of times a week rather than a real team. Most shots come off the first pass, usually a jump shot. Or else off the second pass. An actual play being run was rare.
At the other end of the floor the Celtics were the exact opposite, playing the game the right way. Time and time again they moved the ball, time and time again they swung the ball to the open man, usually to Ray Allen on the perimeter, who made four open 3-pointers. Time and time again they played the way a team is supposed to play, smart and unselfish, looking like they actually practice and have a game plan.
Is it any wonder they had a 30-17 lead with over two minutes left in the quarter and essentially never looked back?
Is it any wonder that they went into another team's building and completely hammered them, something that's not supposed to happen in the NBA?
So we all know the Celtics are talented in a league where you need big-time talent to win, a league where talent is always going to trump coaching.
We all know about the Big Three, and the development of Rajon Rondo and Kendrick Perkins, and a bench that gives them energy and intensity. We all know about the NBA title last June and the parade and all the other perks that come with winning.
What tends to get overlooked is that more and more they are becoming a truly great team, not just a talented one. The roles are defined. Everyone plays defense. Everyone seems to bring energy most of the time, a rare thing in a season that's simply too long with too many games, this regular season that's going to go to April. Everyone buys into the idea that winning is the most important thing.
Sounds obvious?
You would think so, but all too often in today's NBA it's not.
For we are watching something special with these Celtics, something that transcends the record.
(Contact Bill Reynolds at breynold@projo.com.)
(Distributed by Scripps Howard News Service, www.scrippsnews.com.)
columnMust credit The Providence Journal
