NBA Halloween: Playing trick-or-treat with each team’s early season trend

Boston Celtics

Interior defense won’t be an issue: Trick

To this point, the numbers don’t suggest the Boston Celtics downgraded in any major way from Al Horford to Robert Williams, Enes Kanter and Grant Williams. They’re ninth in defensive rating, are only giving up 42.0 points in the paint per game (sixth in the NBA), and although they’re not rebounding particularly well, that was an issue even when Horford was still around.

However, even if the 25th-ranked rebounding percentage gets better with Kanter back on the floor, the drop from an elite, multi-positional defender like Horford will be felt sooner or later. Kanter is well known as a sieve on that end of the floor, Time Lord is caught out of position from time to time and though the rookie Williams is enticing in his own right, he’s not a rim protector.

The Celtics’ defense will continue to be built on the perimeter and on the wings with stout defenders like Marcus Smart, Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown, but when they play better teams, the loss of Horford will eventually be felt.