The seeds for this year’s Boston Celtics squad were sown a year ago, when the team was floundering at 16-30 and several games out of the postseason picture.
Their defense was porous and lacked cohesion, they hadn’t yet acquired Isaiah Thomas, and Brad Stevens had yet to mold a sum-of-its-parts team that defined his run at Butler.
But from early February until the end of last season, the Celtics ripped off 24 wins in their final 36 to earn the No. 7 seed. And even though they were merely a speedbump for the Cleveland Cavaliers en route to the Finals, Jae Crowder, their versatile defensive leader, said that series was a turning point.
“Two months previous, we were on a hell of a run to even make the playoffs,” Crowder told USA TODAY Sports. “Once we saw we made the playoffs and how we made it, we wanted to move forward and build off that.”
The Celtics may have been swept by the Cavs, but two incidents against Crowder – a bone-shivering screen from Kendrick Perkins and another face swat from J.R. Smith – underscored the simmering frustration of playing a feisty Celtics team.
“(My teammates) know I was going to fight. They know I’m a fighter. They know I’m not going to back down from anybody,” Crowder said. “That’s how you earn respect. I was in Dallas and the only way I could get on the court was by defending the best player and giving it all I got. That’s what I brought over here.”
This year’s Celtics have taken no one by surprise. Entrenched in the playoff race for months, Boston won’t be an easy out against the Atlanta Hawks. They have youth and versatility, and whatever they lack in scoring, they make up for with cohesion on the defensive end.
Crowder, who recently returned to the Celtics’ lineup after missing eight games with a sprained ankle, could be Boston’s most indispensable player. In his absence the Celtics’ defensive rating dropped to 11th compared to its No. 4 ranking throughout the entire season. He’s averaging career-highs at 14.2 points per game and 5.1 rebounds and his 1.8 steals per game are 13th in the NBA, slightly behind Kawhi Leonard. It’s also typically Crowder who’s tasked with hounding an opponent’s best scorer.
“When he was missed, it was clear that he’s a big part of us,” Stevens told CSNNE.com. “And I think the defensive versatility stands out on that end, and then the shooting. And I think that that sometimes get overlooked and not talked about.”
But Crowder would be first to tell you that his defensive efforts alone aren’t yielding lower numbers. Marcus Smart and Avery Bradley, two excellent young perimeter defenders, have aided their suffocating defense as well. Their locker room chemistry is why players bristled at making any splashy deadline deals, and it’s also the notion behind their postseason mantra – a Crowder quote – “We’re one superstar.”
Crowder was dealt to Boston in the Rajon Rondo deal, an apparent throw in along with a first-round pick. He’s become so valuable that the Celtics’ PR staff has stumped for him as the NBA’s Most Improved Player. Even if he doesn’t win, the Celtics found a poster-child for their defensive identity.
“Couldn’t have worked out no better for me as a player. I was searching for a home and I found one.”
