What’s been most interesting about the Celtics this season is how distinct they feel inside the Brad Stevens era, in mostly frustrating ways. The commonalities are people, not style or aesthetic. An example: Their three-point rate is slightly below what it was four years ago. Only three other teams can say the same thing, and two (the Rockets and Cavaliers) have completely melted down since. (The Ben Simmons-less Sixers are the other.)
The Celtics don’t aggregate their hyper-talented individual parts on offense and are without any identity—or eagerness to discover one—on defense. They’re below average on that end for the first time since Stevens was hired.