Heading into training camp: How can the Celtics be even better than last season?

Ramp to Camp: How Can Celtics Be Even Better Than Last Season? Originally Appeared on NBC Sports Boston

The Boston Celtics had one of the most dominant campaigns in NBA history last season, setting an NBA record for offensive rating, finishing tied for the third-best net rating of all time and finishing in the top five all-time in scoring differential.

But let’s get greedy. How can the Celtics take another step forward in the 2024-25 season? For the 12th episode of our Slope to camp series, that’s the question we asked our NBC Sports Boston panel: How can this team get even better?

(Check out our complete Ramp to Camp series here.)

Maybe a better question is: where do you start nitpicking?

The Celtics posted 17 wins of 25 points or more, meaning that 20 percent of their games were complete blowouts. They finished 14 games ahead of their nearest rival in the East. They steamrolled through the playoffs, never seeing a Game 6 along the way.

The Celtics occasionally lost to inferior opponents (the loss to the one-man-down Lakers still bothers us), but they never lost more than two games in a row. And even that happened only four times this season.

Our panel leaned heavily on Boston’s late-game shot selection, and we’d love to stomp our feet about settling for bad shots. But Boston posted an absurd +46.9 net rating through 24 minutes of postseason clutch time and was a perfect 6-0 in those games. This team seemed to have learned from its regular-season missteps and had a knack for making big plays in big moments (right, Pacers?)

So here’s the best we can come up with: There’s another level these math-loving Celtics can take with their final quarter execution. The Celtics did a great job of generating 3-for-2 and 2-for-1 possessions in the final minute of the quarter, but it feels like shot quality wasn’t fully maximized.

Maybe that doesn’t matter. The analytics suggest that creating those chances is what matters most. But having everyone on the same page and knowing exactly what kind of shots the team wants to create in the final 65 seconds of a quarter could make the Celtics offense even more efficient.

(That sounds insane considering they just finished the most efficient season in NBA history, but we told you the goal here was to be greedy.)

Here’s what our panel would like to see:

I have a theory, and it’s that Jaylen Brown’s game-tying 3-pointer in Game 1 against Indy was the switch. The Celtics often look rattled in close and late situations, but now they’re the champs. There’s nothing they haven’t seen, so play it with the game on the line.

Tom Giles, Multi-platform host

Hard to complain about much, but maybe complacency? There were moments where we saw the Celtics take their foot off the gas pedal — and what team doesn’t? — but if they can limit those moments, they’ll be an absolute machine.

Better crunch-time offense. Yes, the Celtics were 21-12 in clutch games last season (scoring within five in the final five minutes) and 6-0 in the playoffs. But if we had to nitpick, we’d like to see better ball movement on late-game possessions and fewer contested fadeaways from Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown.

Bench Scoring. In all fairness, the Celtics shouldn’t expect their bench to be productive offensively, as they arguably have the best starting five in the league. That said, the C’s ranked 26th in bench scoring last season.

Payton Pritchard could take another step (or two) forward in his development. Lonnie Walker IV could get hot offensively, assuming he can figure out and make the team. Rookie Baylor Scheierman is a very good outside shooter. There’s reason to believe the second unit could give Boston a bit more scoring power this season, which would be helpful since the starters shouldn’t be playing too many minutes.

Less ISO ball in clutch time. Pick up the pace and move the ball. The Celtics were excellent in almost every statistical category last season, but their slower pace late in the fourth quarter and in overtime was often disconcerting.

Kevin Miller, VP, Content

I still think situations at the end of the clock can be better. Use the depth of the team as a bigger advantage in those situations.