There has been perhaps no more pleasant a surprise in the Eastern Conference this season than the Boston Celtics, who are sitting in third place behind only Cleveland and Toronto. In addition to being nine games over .500, Boston also has a top-three defensive rating and an offensive rating just outside of the top 10 with nary a superstar on their roster, and only one All-Star (Isaiah Thomas). At this point in the season, you would have to think that Brad Stevens is a serious contender for coach of the year, and it’s plays like this one that show how much effort the team puts in for their coach every night.
Boston was in Denver on Sunday and looking to close out the game with a sizable lead in the fourth quarter. After Jusef Nurkic fumbled the ball, Marcus Smart reacted faster than the Nuggets in the vicinity of the ball to poke it ahead to a streaking Evan Turner. Smart’s tip was a little too hard for Turner to coast in for an easy layup, though, so he had to sprint to stop the ball from going out of bounds. Due to his hustle, he was able to track it down and save it, and Avery Bradley was right there to clean it up, as he was the only other player who also sprinted down the floor tracking the play.
Sometimes people complain about NBA players — who have to slog through an 82-game regular season — not putting in maximum effort on every possession. But when this happens, hopefully those fans aren’t talking about the 2015-16 Boston Celtics. Their hustle and verve is giving them a leg up on a host of more talented teams around the Association.
