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There are 15 teams in the playoffs that believed they'd get here. Some had longer shots than others, but all hoped in their heart of hearts that they'd end up playing beyond mid-April.
And then, there are the Boston Celtics.
Only the most optimistic Boston superfans thought the Celtics could make the postseason. They entered the year with a young roster, inexperienced coach and a clear goal of accumulating draft picks for a long rebuilding project. They advanced further on that path by dealing a disgruntled Rajon Rondo to Dallas in December and top scorer Jeff Green to Memphis in January. Each trade brought back an anonymous crew of players and protected future draft picks. These are not moves a team trying to reach the playoffs ever makes.
Yet they somehow made the Celtics stronger. Their band of misfits tore through the East after the All-Star Break, led by a weird combination of three combo guards, multiple stretch big men and a 5'9 offensive dynamo run out of town by his previous team. They played differently than NBA teams generally do, pulling opponents away from the basket on one end and preventing them from getting through the first line of defense on the other. Through it all, Brad Stevens earned everyone's respect, whether they be Celtics fans, fans of other teams, players around the league, analytically-minded pundits or NBA executives.
These type of teams tend to fail in the playoffs because the talent gap is more pronounced, but even getting here is a huge accomplishment for Stevens' team.
How they beat you
The Celtics illustrate how the threat of three-point shooting matters far more than actually making three-point shots. The Celtics are shooting just 32.5 percent from downtown since acquiring Isaiah Thomas at the trade deadline and have only one player who shoots above 36 percent from deep for the season. But they keep on firing because their players hit just enough for defenses to guard them, opening the floor for cooler stuff.
The threat of shooting allows Stevens to work his magic. The Celtics' coach designs creative sets that keep all players on the move while leaving the paint open. Big men like Tyler Zeller, Kelly Olynyk, Brandon Bass and Jonas Jerebko stay out of the paint, which makes it easier for decent cutters and average drivers like Avery Bradley, Evan Turner and Marcus Smart to get to the hoop. That also makes Thomas, a quick penetrator and finisher that frustrated his previous teams by dribbling too much, that much more dangerous. This is the formula that has Boston in the top 10 in offensive efficiency since the All-Star Break.
