The Boston Celtics have the NBA’s best offense this season, and it’s not even close. They’re scoring 112 points per 100 possessions, which is 3.2 points better than the second-place Houston Rockets and nearly 6 points better than they were last season (when they led the league). What makes this achievement even more impressive is that the Celtics are also having their best defensive season ever — 11th in defensive efficiency — which means they’re doing it on both ends of the floor.
The Celtics are scoring 1.24 points per possession in the playoffs, a mark that would rank as the highest offensive efficiency over an entire season since the 1998-1999 Chicago Bulls (1.25). They’re shooting 48.1 percent from the field and 40.0 percent from 3-point range in these playoffs — both franchise records for a single postseason run.
They’ve been particularly potent on offense when they’ve got size advantages against their opponents’ lineups, which is exactly how they looked against Philadelphia’s small lineups in Game 7 of their Eastern Conference semifinal series. The Celtics scored 118 points on 60 possessions with Al Horford playing center and Aron Baynes at power forward; those numbers extrapolate out to 1.45 points per possession, which would be one of history’s best offensive outputs if sustained over an entire game (which has never happened).
Boston Celtics Win
The Boston Celtics have scored at least 100 points in all but one game this postseason: Game 3 against Milwaukee, where they were held under 90 by Giannis Antetokounmpo’s 42-point night (and 20 rebounds).
The Boston Celtics’ offense has been a lot better with Kemba Walker on the floor. The team’s offensive rating is 113.8 when Walker plays compared to 108.4 when he doesn’t (per Cleaning The Glass). That’s a difference of 5.4 points per 100 possessions, which would rank seventh in the league by itself if it held up for an entire season—and that includes all 82 games!
It should come as no surprise that this is true: Walker is one of the best shooters in basketball, which gives him a distinct advantage over those who aren’t as accurate from behind-the-arc (e.g., Kyrie Irving). But what’s interesting is how quickly his impact becomes apparent when he hits the court; though they may have struggled without him at first, over time Boston has become much more effective offensively once he assumes more responsibility on offense as well.