There’s an old adage in sports, in particular the NBA and NFL that defense wins championships. As regular Bodog handicappers, we’ve seen some of our favorite teams, make good and others crumble, as their defensive games have strengthened or decreased throughout the four grueling playoff rounds. With that in mind, today we will be looking at the Boston Celtics, and the likelihood they can return to the NBA title game for the first time in nearly four years. If the road to the title were simply based on defense, we would provide the Celtics with the best odds to win another title. As we near the end of the regular season, and the start of the playoffs, there seems to be a debate amongst fans and the media alike, as to which performance model works better to win a championship. On the one hand, we’ve seen teams with elite offenses but mediocre defenses run rampant during the regular season, and find much success. Conversely, throughout the playoffs, we’ve seen bookie software defenses such as the Celtics, find much success despite playing in a ton of low scoring affairs. But why the sudden change? With the game on the line, wouldn’t you rather have a team that puts up 100 points a game, rather then one that puts up only 80 points? Last season, we saw that a good offense can only take you so far, while a good defense can carry you to a championship, when the Miami Heat and Dallas Mavericks faced off for the sportsbook review title. Simply put, the reason the Heat could not get by the Mavericks and claim their first of what should be at least four titles, was due to a lack of defensive ability. While LeBron James carried the offensive load, his supporting cast in Miami couldn’t stop the Mavericks outside offensive weapons, Jason Terry and JJ Barea. Thus it was inevitable they were to lose to the Mavericks, who could get the defensive stop when necessary. As it relates to the Boston Celtics, the team has several stars that can carry the offense, but the entire team has bought into the defensive side of things. Heading down the stretch of the regular season, having everyone buy in to the defensive side is absolutely pivotal to success. While starters, Ray Allen, Rajon Rondo, Kevin Garnett and Paul Pierce are each great defenders, in order for the team to have success, the players coming off the bench to replace the big four, basically need to specialize in defense. What’s more? Prior to the arrival of Garnett and Allen, the Celtics were one of the worst teams defensively in the NBA. Yet, since the duo has come over to Boston, the Celtics have always ranked in the top five of defensive teams. Looking closer at the statistics, the Boston Celtics are a downright terrifying team in defense. For example, in the past 15 games, the Celtics have led the league in fewest points allowed, at 95.3 per 100 possessions. The 95.3 PAG is nearly seven points better then the second best team defensively, the Philadelphia 76ers. In turn, this tells us, that the Celtics should be the toughest team defensively once the playoffs arrive.
