Boston Celtics: Grading Every Player Through the First Two Rounds

The Boston Celtics haven't made it easy on themselves, needing six games to beat the Atlanta Hawks and seven games to beat the Philadelphia 76ers. Nonetheless, they are still in the Eastern Conference Finals.

Now, they are a mere four wins away from reaching the finals. Granted, those wins will have to come against LeBron James, Dwayne Wade and friends. Some players will need to play better if the Celtics want a chance against the Heat, while other players, like KG, will just need to continue doing what they're doing.

These grades serve as a progress report as there is still time for players with low grades to raise them. In fact, those with low grades will need to step it up for the Celtics to advance. 

(Note: I am grading only the major players that play upwards of twelve minutes a game. That means Greg Stiemsma, Ryan Hollins and Keyon Dooling will not be graded. Also, I decided not to grade Avery Bradley because he is out for the remainder of the playoffs. If anyone would like to see any of the above players graded, just let me know and I will grade them.)

Rajon Rondo

Playoff Stats: 15.3 ppg, 12.3 apg, 6.7 rpg, 2.7 spg, 3.8 topg

Best Game: Game 3 against the Hawks, 17 points, 12 assists, 14 rebounds and four steals

Worst Game: Game 6 against the Sixers, nine points six assists, nine rebounds and four turnovers

Grade: A-

Rondo has been huge this postseason and looking at just his stat line, he should be at an A or an A+. He has had three triple-doubles in 13 playoffs games and has accounted for an average of 40 points per game. Really, he is one of the few things keeping the Celtics' offense alive. 

I have two gripes with Rondo though. He has been a bit inconsistent at points and he should be shooting more. The Game 6 loss was more or less Rondo's fault.

Perhaps he is at an A- minus though because we are asking too much of him. I mean, he has about as complete of an impact on every game as you could ask for. However, against the Heat, he will need to score 20 a game and continue to get upwards of ten assists if the Celtics want any chance at winning. 

Ray Allen

Playoff Stats: 9.9 ppg, 4.0 rpg, 1.2 apg

Best Game: Game 2 against the Sixers, 17 points, four rebounds, three steals and two assists

Worst Game: Game 3 against the Sixers, 3 points, four rebounds

Grade: C+

We need to cut Ray Allen a lot of slack because he is clearly being held back by the bone spurs in his ankle, an injury that sounds absolutely terrible.

That being said, we still can't overlook his poor shooting (38% from the field and 26.5% from three) and poor defense. Throughout the playoffs, he has been targeted on the defensive end.

Against Dwayne Wade in the Conference Finals, Allen will really need to pick up his play on the defensive end. On the offensive end, he will need to knock down more shots.

At the end of Game 7, he gave us a glimpse of the old Ray Allen, hitting two clutch threes. Hopefully, he will carry that into the Eastern Conference Finals. 

Paul Pierce

Playoff Stats: 19.3 ppg, 6.9 rpg and 3.5 apg

Best Game: Game 2 against the Hawks, 36 points, 14 rebounds and four assists

Worst Game: Game 2 against the Sixers, seven points, five rebounds and five turnovers

Grade: B+

So far in the playoffs, Pierce has come up big for the Celtics when they've needed him. His scoring has been consistent and a huge help to the struggling Celtics offense. On the defensive end, he has come up big as well, effectively containing the scoring of Andre Iguodala in the second round.

He is only at a B+ though because he has had some bad games (Game 1 against the Hawks and Sixers and Game 2 against the Sixers) and has been a bit too careless with the ball.

His assist to turnover ratio is just about even with his turnovers per game at three. All he really needs to do is bring it every game and take better care of the ball to raise his grade to an A and more importantly, help the Celtics beat the Heat. 

Brandon Bass

Playoff Stats: 11.3 ppg, 5.3 rpg and 94.7% shooting from the line

Best Game: Game 5 against the Sixers, 27 points, six rebounds, two blocks and two steals

Worst Game: Game 6 against the Hawks, six points and six rebounds

Grade: B+

For the most part, Brandon Bass has done exactly what has been expected of him, and at times, more. He single-handedly took over Game 5 against the Sixers with 18 points in the third quarter.

Nearly every game, he has scored in the low double digits and shot the ball pretty well. One big area he needs to improve on though is his rebounding. Just five rebounds a game is unacceptable for a starting power forward. Last night, he pulled down just two rebounds.

To beat the Heat, the Celtics need to have an edge on the glass, and in order to do that, they need Bass to crash the boards hard, especially on the offensive end. 

Kevin Garnett

Playoff Stats: 19.2 ppg and 10.8 rpg

Best Game: Game 6 against the Hawks, 28 points, 14 rebounds and five blocks

Worst Game: Game 4 against the Sixers, nine points, eleven rebounds and seven turnovers

Grade: A

Coming off a season where KG averaged just 15.8 points and 8.2 rebounds per game, not many saw this coming. He has been rejuvenated in these playoffs and has treated everyone to more than a few vintage KG performances.

His scoring has kept the Celtics offense alive and led the Celtics to a lot of their playoffs wins. On the defensive end, he continues to anchor arguably the best defense in the league.

He has been dominant on both ends of the floor and will need to continue his dominance against the Heat. 

Mickael Pietrus

Playoff Stats: 3.7 ppg, 1.7 rpg

Best Game: Game 3 against the Sixers, 13 points on 3-4 shooting form three

Worst Game: Any of his four scoreless games 

Grade: C

Simply put, Pietrus needs to give the Celtics more. He has been solid on the defensive end, at times over aggressive, and solid rebounding wise. But on the offensive end, he needs to score more.

Make no mistake about it, Pietrus is the only real scoring threat coming off the bench. He is not living up to that title though and has shot poorly from the field (34%) and even worse from three (24.3%). Three pointers are his calling card, but so far, he hasn't shot well from deep at all.

In order for the Celtics to give the Heat a run for their money they will need scoring off the bench and some big three pointers to shift momentum. Pietrus will need to provide both.