Why the Celtics might be the most ‘annoying’ team in the NBA

Why the Celtics might be the most ‘annoying’ team in the NBA originally appeared on NBC Sports Boston

The Boston Celtics might be the most annoying team in the NBA this season — and in the best way possible.

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Picture this: You’re a team playing your fifth game in seven days in Boston. Legs are heavy, everything feels like a grind. And when you’re not getting swarmed by Boston’s gaggle of young wings like Hugo Gonzalez and Jordan Walsh, you’ve got to try to figure out how to keep Mitchell Robinson and his 7-foot, 240-pound frame from vacuuming up every available offensive rebound.

Boston’s depth and potential playstyle might be the two biggest reasons the Celtics can remain entrenched at the top of the Eastern Conference, despite beefed-up competition and the departure of Jaylen Brown.

We may very well be overreacting to an incredibly small sample of preseason basketball, but in two games so far the Celtics have showcased a readymade identity that builds off much of what made the team elite last season. Health is vital to Boston’s overall regular-season success, and there’s a lot to figure out to be able to judge how successful this team might be when the playoffs arrive.

But over the course of 82, we’re pretty bullish that Boston is going to be exactly the sort of team that opponents don’t want to see.

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Let’s crunch some early numbers: 

22

That’s how many deflections Boston registered against Philadelphia. For context: Boston ranked 25th in the NBA generating just 15.2 deflections per game and lagged way behind league-leading Oklahoma City, which generated 20.8 deflections per game last year.

The addition of Paul George ought to kick up both Boston’s total deflections and steal rates on its own. George produced five steals against Philadelphia and has routinely ranked among the best at his position in steal rate. And whenever George wasn’t deflecting an entry pass, it was Baylor Scheierman swatting one on his own, then hurling himself into the front row of the stands to ensure that turnover morphed into points.

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With George and Jayson Tatum, the Celtics now have two of the more…

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Publish date : 2026-10-13 11:12:00

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