Celtics Hot Takes 2 Months into 2022-23 NBA Season
The Boston Celtics are, in fact, mortal.
That sounds obvious, but it hasn't always been apparent during the first two months of the 2022-23 NBA season.
Their last three trips to the hardwood have featured a pair of double-digit losses and an overtime win against the 12th-seeded Los Angeles Lakers. For most teams, a mini-skid like this wouldn't even be worth mentioning, but this is the most on-court turbulence the club has encountered so far.
What does this mean in the big picture? Almost certainly nothing. The Celtics could start their next winning streak at any time.
What might mean something, though? The following three hot takes spawned by the first two months.
Boston Should Go Big-Man Shopping
If the Celtics were full-strength, you could argue there are no weak spots on the roster.
But that's the thing: They aren't complete and haven't been all season. Robert Williams III has yet to suit up following knee surgery. Al Horford has sat out five consecutive contests because of personal reasons.
Obviously, these absences—plus Danilo Gallinari's torn ACL—have caused this frontcourt to function at something less than full capacity. While this rash of injuries could strike any team, the Shamrocks should better guard themselves against further issues. After all, Williams has a lengthy injury history at this point, and Horford turned 36 this past summer.
Blake Griffin and Luke Kornet have done what they can to hold things together, while Grant Williams has authored his strongest season yet. It's not enough, though. The Celtics should be on the search for backup bigs between now and the trade deadline. It just might take care of this club's lone shortcoming.
Payton Pritchard Needs More Minutes—Or a Trade
Payton Pritchard exceeded all reasonable expectations as a rookie in 2020-21. The 26th overall pick averaged 7.7 points and 1.8 assists (against only 0.8 turnovers) in just 19.2 minutes per night while converting 44 percent of his field goals and 41.1 percent of his long-range looks.
Know how that effort was rewarded? With a diminished role the following season and yet another slice this time around.
All the while, he's basically been as good or better than he was as a freshman, averaging more points and assists per 36 minutes (15.9 and 4.8, respectively, per Basketball-Reference) while posting similar shooting rates (42.4 percent overall, 40.3 from distance).
The 24-year-old needs a real shot to show what he can do. He has serious spark-plug potential if he could just find regular minutes. Those are hard to come by in a crowded Boston backcourt, but the Celtics should either entrust him with a more prominent role or send him to another team that will.
If Jayson Tatum Isn't Great, Neither Are the Celtics
While a ton of things have gone right for the Celtics this season—once the games actually tipped off, that is—there was no greater development than Jayson Tatum's rise as an MVP candidate, if not the favorite.
Both his 30.2 points and 8.3 rebounds per game are new personal-bests. Nearly every advanced metric has also stretched to a new career high.
When he's playing at this level, Boston is borderline unbeatable. As his rare off-nights have shown, though, when he's less than elite, so are the Celtics. He's played in 21 Boston wins, averaging 32.4 points on 49.2/38.1/86 shooting in those contests. But in the Celtics' seven losses, his scoring average dips to 23.4, while his slash line falls to 39.7/29.3/84.8.
Now, this isn't super surprising, since the NBA is, after all, a superstar-driven league. However, it goes to show that even a team as stacked as the Celtics still relies on one player to such a massive degree.