The Boston Celtics and their struggles have been under the media spotlight recently. They are currently 15-17, two games under .500. Their superstars have been performing relatively well throughout the season, with both Jaylen Brown and Jayson Tatum being selected for the All-Star game. Despite the fact that they went to the Eastern Conference Finals during the bubble, they have been inconsistent throughout the first half of the season.
StatMuse has posted a statistic that highlighted a huge factor that could have caused the Boston Celtics’ inconsistency throughout the season. With Gordon Hayward’s departure during the offseason, the next best players on the Boston Celtics’ roster are Jayson Tatum, Jaylen Brown, Kemba Walker, and Marcus Smart. Those four players together should be a recipe for a championship-caliber team. However, they have only played 28 minutes together throughout the course of the entire season.
Jayson Tatum, Jaylen Brown, Kemba Walker and Marcus Smart have only played 28 total minutes together this season.
(Submitted by @J__Nicholson) pic.twitter.com/hBjIpPCQWB
— StatMuse (@statmuse) February 25, 2021
That is a very small amount of minutes for your four best players to be playing together. 28 minutes isn’t even a full game, and it is obvious that the Boston Celtics have lacked cohesiveness at times. Kemba Walker and Marcus Smart have both had long-term injuries that haven’t let the four play as a unit.
Woke up to Celtics injury updates (thread)
1. Kemba Walker (stem cell injection in his left knee) was put on a “12-week strengthening program” and will be out until at least early January.
— Jay King (@ByJayKing) December 1, 2020
ESPN Sources: Boston's Marcus Smart likely rehabbing his left calf injury through the March 5-10 All-Break with hopes of returning for the start of the season's second half: https://t.co/T8AnlU7dcq
— Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn) February 21, 2021
Two long-term injuries don’t help when you are trying to build chemistry in order to win a championship. While there are expectations for the team to continue performing due to the talent on the roster, their injuries were both things that were out of anyone’s control. While the Boston Celtics are struggling now, they could easily turn it around. Kemba Walker is still finding his footing post-injury, and Marcus Smart hasn’t even returned yet. While the Boston Celtics should already be a winning team, sometimes it takes a period of time in order to fully develop as a unit. The team that got to the Eastern Conference Finals is mostly intact, while Brown and Tatum have gotten even better.
It remains to be seen whether the Boston Celtics will end up doing well in the postseason, or fizzle out due to their inconsistency. While they have been some signs of trouble, the postseason is what matters, and the Boston Celtics can definitely figure it out by the playoffs.
