Boston Celtics: 4 Ways the Celtics Can Fix Their Offense

Throughout these playoffs, the Celtics' offense has been just short of abysmal. Every game (with the exception of Game 4 against the Hawks), it has been a struggle for them to put points on the board.

The culmination of their bad offense came in the second and third quarters of last night's Game 2 against the Sixers. During that 24-minute span, the Celtics scored 24 points on 9-37 shooting. That's only one point a minute.

Luckily though, the Celtics' defense has been excellent. However, 81 points (how many point the C's scored last night) will hardly ever get the job done.

If the Celtics want to make any noise in these playoffs, they need to start scoring more points. In order to score more points, they will need to make these few minor adjustments to their offense.

Rondo Needs to Shoot (and Score) More

So far in this series, Rajon Rondo is averaging just 10.5 points per game. Sure, he is also averaging 15 assists a game, but it has come to the point where Rondo needs to start looking for his own shot more and look for others' shots less. On several occasions, Rondo has taken the ball to the hoop and then instead of taking a layup, he has passed the ball out to Brandon Bass in the corner, who has consistently missed that corner jumper. When he wants to, Rondo can blow by his defender and either get a layup or draw a foul. He needs to be in attack mode in order for himself and the Celtics to score more.

Brandon Bass Needs to Start Hitting His Shots

Brandon Bass is getting the best shots out of every Celtic. However, Bass has also struggled with his shot more than any other Boston player. Consistently, he has been open for mid-range jumpers that he usually makes. For some reason though, the shots just aren't falling for Bass in these playoffs. In the eight games he has played in these playoffs, he has yet to shoot over 50 percent and his scoring is down significantly from the regular season. If Bass can start hitting the shots that he normally does, then he will be able to score a lot and, in turn, the Celtics will be able to put a lot more points on the board.

They Need to Run More of Their Old Sets

Throughout the regular season, the Celtics had a few offensive plays and sets that they would run over and over again. They wouldn't just run them, though. They would run them to near perfection. But in the playoffs, it doesn't seem that many of the usual plays or sets are being run as much. Perhaps Doc thinks that the other teams are preparing for these plays (and they probably are), but with the way the C's run them, they would still be effective.

During the playoffs, the Celtics have not run their bread-and-butter play nearly as much as in the regular season: the 1-5 pick and pop between Rondo and Kevin Garnett. That play is the staple of the Celtics' offense and the source of a lot of KG's points. However, it has been run much less in the playoffs.

Another notable aspect of the Celtics offense missing is guard Avery Bradley's weak-side, back-door cutting. The majority of Bradley's points used to come from these back-door cuts, but in these playoffs, he has not been doing much cutting out of the corner. His cuts usually result in easy points in the paint and the Celtics could certainly use more of those.

KG, Pierce, and Bass Need to Use New Moves

I know the old saying "you can't teach an old dog new tricks," but someone needs to at least try to teach Paul Pierce and Kevin Garnett new moves. They have been doing these same moves for more than a decade now, and finally, people are starting to catch on. KG always, and I mean always, fakes right then does a fade-away over his left shoulder when he is on the block. Granted, it does work a lot of the time, but at this point, the defense is expecting that exact shot. Garnett needs to keep the defense honest by going to the hoop or up-faking every once in a while.

As for Pierce, he is a little less predictable than Garnett, but only a little less. When he gets the ball on the wing, the defender can expect one of two things. First, he may try to drive to the hoop. If that is the case, he will lower his shoulder and slowly make his way there. Once close to the hoop, he will throw up his arm and scream as if he is getting mugged. If he does not do that move, then he will take two dribbles then do a step-back jumper.

Even more predictable than Pierce is Brandon Bass. When he gets the ball at mid-range and his defender is on him, he will always do the same move. He will up fake once then pound his dribble away from the sideline but toward the rim. Then, he will do a jump stop, hesitate for a second with the ball at about his knees then try to go up for the two handed slam. So far in the playoffs, with teams keying in on that move, he has had the ball stripped from him more times than I can count. I don't think the move has worked yet in the playoffs.

I am not the only one who knows these moves are coming. The Sixers do too, and if Pierce, Garnett and Bass want to have more offensive success, they should really try new moves.