Star-Studded Roster Carries Boston Through First Two Weeks

The 2023-2024 NBA Champion Boston Celtics got off to a hot start for the 24-25 season with a 4-1 record going into the second weekend and ranks first in team points per game averaging around 125.8. Forward Jayson Tatum ranks fifth in the NBA with 30.2 points per game and tied for second in total with 23 three-pointers made thus far. The 26-year-old has started extremely hot to lead the team, as he is on pace to set career-highs in three-pointers made per game, field goal percentage, assists, steals, and plus-minus. However, the former Duke Blue Devil is far from the lone star on the team with sixth-man Payton Pritchard playing at a very high level. 

The former Oregon Duck has provided valuable minutes for the team, playing a career-high 27.7 on average, up over five minutes from last season. Pritchard ties Tatum for second in the NBA in total three-pointers made with 23, including an impressive 8-12 performance on 10/28 to carry the team to victory vs. the Milwaukee Bucks. Pritchard adds depth to the backcourt which will be extremely important to the long-term goals of the franchise. The starting guards Jrue Holiday and Derrick White are valuable members of the Celtics’ premier defense in a league where good guard play has dominated over the last decade.

Despite the two main stars of the team being similar wings, Tatum and Jaylen Brown, the backbone of this team is strong guard play. Not in the sense that NBA fans have grown accustomed to, but in a defensive sense that lets the Celtics play a very effective defense. The Celtics finish above league average in points allowed per game, but the team holds a -11.2 plus-minus average across the team. The reason is simple, the Celtics shoot so many threes and get up by enough to force the other team to take more three-point shots than they may be comfortable with.