Celtics have fallen into last season’s traps and need to avoid a spiral

For the majority of the season, most of the talk surrounding the Boston Celtics has been about how great their offense has been. In fact, up until recently, they laid claim to the best offense in league history. But after a less-than-stellar three-game trip to California, that’s no longer the case. Instead, fans briefly saw flashbacks of last year’s team – and not the one that ended up in the NBA Finals.

While Boston’s season last year ended up extending into June, the turnaround didn’t actually start until the end of January. Now, obviously, that’s not technically true, but the version of the Celtics that made a championship run didn’t show up through the first few months of the season.

From October to January, the Celtics played iso-heavy on offense, couldn’t find their rhythm from three-point land, and constantly blew leads. It was a stagnant brand of basketball that they had to (and did) overcome, but it’s the exact style of play that they’ve employed in recent games.

All season long, the Celtics’ plan has been clear: move the ball and generate open shots. It sounds simple, but last year’s early-season squad failed at that. It didn’t take long for Marcus Smart to call out Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown publicly for their lack of passing. During Boston’s California trip, a shooting slump led to the Celtics reverting back to those old bad habits.

The Celtics shoot 41.6% on catch-and-shoot threes this year, but in their last three games, that number has dipped to just 32.6%. Part of that is their subpar ball movement, but the harsh reality is that some players just went through a slump. Over the last three games, Derrick White has shot 2-of-10 on catch-and-shoot threes, Sam Hauser has shot 3-of-11, and Grant Williams has shot 3-for-10. On the year, all three of those players have shot well above 40%.

Slumps happen, but it’s the way that the Celtics responded to the slump that’s concerning. Instead of trusting the ball movement, keeping on pace with the plans, or finding other ways to score within the flow of the offense, Tatum and Brown often took it upon themselves to score.

Boston’s collapse against the Los Angeles Lakers was a prime example. They played excellent basketball through the first two-and-a-half quarters, getting smart shots, shooting it well, and taking care of the basketball. But a couple of turnovers turned into an avalanche, and for the rest of the confidence, the gameplan seemed to be to get the…