Celtics Revival

I can not get enough of Avery Bradley.  He is already one of the best defensive guards in the league and in a year or two could be the top one.  He is currently better then the overrated 1st team defender Rondo.  His D on Wade and Rose in the playoff will be crucial if they want to make a run.  He is the smaller Tony Allen, but smarter on the offensive side.  Like Tony Allen, he still has some trouble with his handle and his shot is very inconsistent, but he is extremely smart without the ball and gets almost all of his points doing backdoor cuts while his man is paying attention to Rondo or whoever else has the ball.  The other way he scores is off of TOs he forces or just out hustling his man on fast breaks.  Rondo finally has a someone who wants to run at every chance.

At this point I actually think he is the better starting SG for the Celtics then Ray Allen.  Allen defense has fallen off tremendously, and although Allen does spread the floor, so does all the other starters (with KG as C).  Bradley brings something that Celtics desperately need, someone who actually cuts towards the basket.  Most of the time when scoring gets stagnate in Celtics first unit it is due to everyone 'spreading the floor' and just waiting for something to happen.  Bradley makes the defense move and gives other options besides just resetting or shooting long jumper.

Another change for the Celtics is KG at center.  He is now forced to play in the low post and is matched up with bigger slower Cs who can't chase him or contest his perimeter jumper.  And, like usual, his defense has been great.  Watching Love struggle to do anything against KG last week was one of my favorite games of the season.  As starting PF this year Garnett averaged 14.3 points, 7.5 rebounds, 2.5 assist, .8 blocks, .7 steals, and was shooting .496%.  As starting C he averages 16.8 points, 8.8 rebounds, 3.3 assists, 1.4 blocks, 1.2 steals, and has shot .526%.  His averages have gone up drastically in every single category since moving over.

The last big change for the Celtics has been Pierce finally shaking off the rust.  He was named Eastern Conference Player of the Month for March.  You can always tell when he is feeling good by just looking at his rebounding numbers, where he has averaged 7.6 in his last 10 games.  He also had 6 games with 25+ points and dropped his season high of 36 on the Bobcats.  I do not think the Celtics will be much better then they are right now for the rest of the season.  While the chances are still very slim, I have some hope for first time all season they can really make a run.