The Celtics Progress Report

You could make the case that nobody is playing better in these 2012 NBA Playoffs than Kevin Garnett ... which is kind of what we expect from the veteran bigs nowadays, isn't it?

He's one of the best defensive players of all-time. About to celebrate his 36th birthday Saturday. Had yet another 20-plus Player Efficiency Rating season.

So when KG gets his annual increase in playoff minutes, we should not even be surprised that he posts postseason averages of 20 & 11, right?

Not to mention, his plus-minus score of +94 in 8 games. Awesome.

Such is life in Boston, where Garnett, Paul Pierce, Rajon Rondo and Ray Allen annually take their games up a notch come April-May-June.

It's the reason why the Cetlics have won a playoff series every year since the four united before the 2007-08 season.

They dominate defense in the regular season (league second-best 95.5 efficiency) and then ramp it up for the playoffs (NBA-best 90.4 efficiency).

As long as they can stay healthy enough to play 30-plus minutes--Pierce and his sprained left knee, Allen and his right ankle bone spurs--the Celtics have a puncher's chance of reaching the NBA Finals.

Their offensive game long left the team--they have not been a Top 10 offensive unit since the 2008-09 season. But that doesn't matter all that much. The Celtics have learned to compete on defense alone.

If Boston can hold off perennial up-and-comer Philly, the Celtics have to feel confident playing Miami, especially with their 19- and 8-point April defeats of the Heat in games where Miami's Big 3 played.

And if Indiana pulls off the upset and reaches the Eastern Conference Finals, again Boston maintains the mental edge, having beaten the Pacers' Fab 5 unit in the most two recent matchups by a combined 21 points.

As good as these young upstarts are, the Celtics know their way around the playoffs.

Boston has won 10 series-and-counting in the past five playoffs. Only the Lakers (13) can boast such a claim ... Grade: B+.

BOSTON CELTICS

2011-12 … 39-27, Offensive Efficiency: 98.9 (24th); Defensive Efficiency: 95.5 (2nd)

Playoffs … 5-3, Offensive Efficiency: 94.0 (11th); Defensive Efficiency: 90.4 (1st)

PG Rajon Rondo, 26, 6th season with Celtics

2011-12 … 53 g, 36.9 mpg, 11.9 ppg, 4.8 rpg, 11.7 apg, 17.5 PER, +1.0 RAPM

Playoffs … 7 g, 41.1 mpg, 15.0 ppg, 6.7 rpg, 12.7 apg, 22.5 PER, +19 total

SF Paul Pierce, 34, 14th season with Celtics

2011-12 … 61 g, 34.0 mpg, 19.4 ppg, 5.2 rpg, 4.5 apg, 19.6 PER, +1.8 RAPM

Playoffs … 8 g, 37.9 mpg, 18.5 ppg, 6.1 rpg, 4.0 apg, 17.1 PER, +15 total

C Kevin Garnett, 35, 5th season with Celtics

2011-12 … 60 g, 31.1 mpg, 15.9 ppg, 8.2 rpg, 2.9 apg, 20.4 PER, +5.6 RAPM

Playoffs … 8 g, 37.4 mpg, 19.5 ppg, 10.8 rpg, 1.9 apg, 23.7 PER, +94 total

PF Brandon Bass, 27, 1st season with Celtics

2011-12 … 59 g, 31.7 mpg, 12.5 ppg, 6.2 rpg, 0.9 apg, 14.1 PER, -0.2 RAPM

Playoffs … 6 g, 31.7 mpg, 9.0 ppg, 5.7 rpg, 0.5 apg, 11.1 PER, -7 total

SG Ray Allen, 36, 5th season with Celtics

2011-12 … 46 g, 34.0 mpg, 14.2 ppg, 3.1 rpg, 2.4 apg, 14.8 PER, +0.6 RAPM

Playoffs … 4 g, 28.0 mpg, 11.8 ppg, 4.5 rpg, 2.0 apg, 17.0 PER, -2 total

SG Avery Bradley, 21, 2nd season with Celtics

2011-12 … 64 g, 21.4 mpg, 7.6 ppg, 1.8 rpg, 1.4 apg, 11.3 PER, -0.4 RAPM

Playoffs … 6 g, 25.5 mpg, 7.2 ppg, 1.8 rpg, 0.7 apg, 8.0 PER, +28 total

SF Mickael Pietrus, 30, 1st season with Celtics

2011-12 … 42 g, 21.9 mpg, 6.9 ppg, 3.1 rpg, 0.6 apg, 8.5 PER, -1.2 RAPM

Playoffs … 6 g, 16.7 mpg, 1.7 ppg, 1.3 rpg, 0.0 apg, -0.8 PER, +16 total

SG Marquis Daniels, 31, 3rd season with Celtics

2011-12 … 38 g, 12.7 mpg, 3.2 ppg, 1.7 rpg, 1.2 apg, 8.1 PER, -0.6 RAPM

Playoffs … 3 g, 12.7 mpg, 2.7 ppg, 1.0 rpg, 0.7 apg, 6.6 PER, +7 total

C Ryan Hollins, 27, 1st season with Celtics

2011-12 … 39 g, 13.4 mpg, 3.4 ppg, 2.1 rpg, 0.2 apg, 6.9 PER, -1.2 RAPM

Playoffs … 5 g, 11.8 mpg, 1.4 ppg, 2.4 rpg, 0.4 apg, 3.0 PER, +1 total

C Greg Stiemsma, 26, 1st season with Celtics

2011-12 … 55 g, 13.9 mpg, 2.9 ppg, 3.2 rpg, 0.5 apg, 13.6 PER, -3.6 RAPM

Playoffs … 6 g, 10.0 mpg, 0.7 ppg, 3.8 rpg, 0.5 apg, 14.0 PER, -17 total

PG Keyon Dooling, 32, 1st season with Celtics

2011-12 … 46 g, 14.4 mpg, 4.0 ppg, 0.8 rpg, 1.1 apg, 6.9 PER, -2.3 RAPM

Playoffs … 6 g, 9.5 mpg, 3.5 ppg, 0.8 rpg, 0.3 apg, 15.4 PER, +7 total

SF Sasha Pavlovic, 28, 2nd season with Celtics

2011-12 … 45 g, 11.7 mpg, 2.7 ppg, 1.6 rpg, 0.4 apg, 6.7 PER, -3.2 RAPM

Playoffs … 2 g, 8.7 mpg, 1.3 ppg, 0.7 rpg, 0.3 apg, -0.6 PER, -4 total

SG E’Twaun Moore, 23, 1st season with Celtics

2011-12 … 38 g, 8.7 mpg, 2.9 ppg, 0.9 rpg, 0.9 apg, 8.8 PER, -1.4 RAPM

Playoffs … 1 g, 8.0 mpg, 0.0 ppg, 2.0 rpg, 0.0 apg, -17.7 PER, -9 total

PF JaJuan Johnson, 23, 1st season with Celtics

2011-12 … 36 g, 8.3 mpg, 3.2 ppg, 1.6 rpg, 0.2 apg, 11.4 PER, -2.3 RAPM

Playoffs … DNP

PF Sean Williams, 25, 1st season with Celtics

2011-12 … 11 g, 9.7 mpg, 3.6 ppg, 2.3 rpg, 0.5 apg, 18.7 PER, -0.9 RAPM

Playoffs … DNP

Glossary ... g: games played; mpg: minutes per game; ppg: points per game; rpg: rebounds per game; apg: assists per game; PER: Player Efficiency Rating; RAPM: Regularized Adjusted Plus Minus (prior); +/- total: Playoffs plus-minus total; * denotes injured—out for season; DNP denotes Did Not Play.

Statistics from Basketball Reference, Hollinger Team Statistics and Stats For The NBA.