Boston Celtics: 5 Changes the Celtics Need to Make to Win the East

Last night the Boston Celtics looked like a team poised to make a deep run in this year’s playoffs. By beating the Atlanta Hawks 101-79, Boston was able to grab a 3-1 strangle-hold on the series.

At this point, it looks like the Celtics will go on to defeat Atlanta in the first round and will most likely go on to play Philadelphia and potentially either Indiana or Miami.

However, the Celtics are playing far from perfect at the moment.

Regardless of who they play, the Celtics will have to clean some things up if they are going to make a deep playoff run.

Here are the five areas that need to improve in order for the Celtics to make a third NBA Finals appearance in the Big Three era.  

1. Bench Scoring

There is no doubt that Paul Pierce, Kevin Garnett and Rajon Rondo have been incredible this series, but as we’ve seen time after time, a team needs its bench to provide productive minutes consistently.

If this series against the Hawks is an indicator about the bench, then the Celtics are in trouble.

In this series, the Celtics' bench is being outscored by the Hawks' bench 65-102. 

Clearly, the Celtics' most negative element is their allowance of over 25 points per game against Atlanta’s bench.

Atlanta's bench success will force Doc Rivers to keep his starters in longer than he wants. If his stars have to expend more energy in the early rounds, it could be very hazardous for the Celtics' long-term playoff hopes.

The positive element is that Boston’s bench has improved each game scoring 4, 14, 19, 28 points respectively.

Compared to the other series-leaders in the East the Celtics are tied for last in bench scoring:

PHI: 28.8 PPG

IND: 20.0 PPG

MIA: 16.3 PPG

BOS: 16.3 PPG

2. 3-Point Shooting

During the regular season, the Celtics finished seventh in the league in three-point shooting percentage at 36.7 percent.

During the playoffs, their average has sunk to 28.1 percent. Overall, the Celtics went from being a three-point shooting team in the top quarter of the league to a bottom-half team compared to the rest of the playoff teams.

Until last night’s dominant display, the Celtics were shooting 18 percent from behind the arch and were the worst three-point shooting team in the playoffs.

The bright side to this is that last night they went 11-for-26 from downtown, which brought their average up to a respectable 28 percent.

It seems as if their long-range shooting is already improving.

3. Second Chance Points Scored/Allowed

During the regular season, the biggest knock against the Celtics, besides their age, was their poor rebounding.

However, it’s not the rebounding differential that is concerning; it's the second-chance points they give up and the lack of second-chance opportunities they get on the offensive end.

Atlanta has outscored the Celtics in second-chance points 28-24. I wouldn’t be too concerned about allowing too many opportunities against the Hawks, but a team like Miami will bury the Celtics if they allow them additional opportunities to put the ball in the basket.

The Celtics' minus-four differential in second-chance points is the worst of the four series-leading teams in the East.

4. Avery Bradley Has to Score

Avery Bradley has disappeared.

I’m not sure where the Celtics' hottest player down the stretch has gone in the postseason, but he is simply not the same player we have seen over the past month or so.

Limiting his minutes due to a sore shoulder is one thing, but if he is healthy enough to be on the court, then he is healthy enough to be productive.

In the playoffs, Avery Bradley is averaging 8.8 PPG and 37.5 percent from the field.

Since he took over as the starting shooting guard at the end of March, he averaged 15.1 PPG and was shooting an incredible 52.2 percent.

The biggest problem with this is not the drop in production from Bradley, but that Doc Rivers is forced to rely on Ray Allen more.

I previously predicted Allen will be the sixth man of the playoffs. I predicted this because I assumed Allen would carry the bench by being the first option, so when the starters were on the bench, the Celtics wouldn't need to worry about scoring dropping off.

Ray Allen has played more minutes with the first team than expected, causing him to fall behind Pierce as the primary scoring option.

The Celtics are not exactly the most offensively-dominant team in the playoffs, so they need all hands on deck on the offensive end, including their breakout player of the year.

5. Get Bigger in the Paint

Here is the biggest problem for the Celtics so far, and I mean that literally. Even with Al Horford out for three games and Josh Smith out for one, the Celtics are getting dominated in the paint.

The Celtics are scoring 29.3 PPG against Atlanta in the paint, but allowing 39.5.  That leads to a points-in-the-paint differential of minus-41. Not only is that one of the worst paint differentials in the playoffs, but they are the only series-leading team in the East who is even in the negative after four games.

PHI: plus-22

MIA: plus-12

IND: plus-52

Garnett, Bass, and the rest of the Celtics big men need to step it up under the basket, or else this stat will surely come back to bite them.