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The Boston Celtics posted the best overall defensive rating in the league during the 2014 NBA preseason.
However, head coach Brad Stevens isn't putting a lot of weight into that stat at this juncture.
"Well, that doesn't mean a lot. I was looking for last season's preseason defensive ratings and I couldn't find them," Stevens quipped on Monday, via Chris Forsberg of ESPN.com.
The Celtics finished 24th in the NBA in defensive rating last preseason, for the record. To put things into perspective, the world champion Spurs finished 27th and look at how that worked out for them.
Regardless, ESPN's Chris Forsberg sees reason to be optimistic going forward into the 2014-15 NBA season.
...when you're a team in transition, you grab silver linings where you can. The Celtics posted a glitzy defensive rating of 93.4 this preseason -- nearly seven points better than a year ago and almost two points better than the nearest competitor this preseason (Phoenix, 95.2). That's got to mean something, right?
Stevens is still wary of overreacting.
"I would say that it means we're progressing, but we still have a long way to go," Stevens said.
That progression may go a long way in the team's quest for becoming a top-10 defense. If they can reach that goal, the Eastern Conference playoffs aren't that far-fetched of a possibility - regardless of what NBA pundits have to say about the team heading into the campaign.
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