2016 Awards Series

Taylor Snow

addByline("Taylor C. Snow","Celtics.com","taylorcsnow");
addPhoto("https://i.cdn.turner.com/drp/nba/celtics/sites/default/files/160527team300350.jpg", "The Celtics celebrate after their upset at Oracle Arena.", "Noah Graham/NBAE", "GOY-div");

We at Celtics.com have handed out five awards over the last few weeks as part of our annual Award Series. Today we wrap things up with one final recognition...

BOSTON – The Boston Celtics pulled off plenty of impressive wins during the 2015-16 season – from Avery Bradley’s buzzer-beating game-winner in Cleveland, to a 26-point comeback victory in the regular season finale against Miami, to a heart-pounding overtime win during Game 4 of the first round of the Playoffs against Atlanta.

None, however, were more jaw-dropping than Boston’s record-snapping win on April 1 on the home court of the defending NBA champion Golden State Warriors.

All odds were against the C’s heading into the contest. They were without one of their top defenders in Jae Crowder, who was recovering from an ankle sprain; they were playing on the second night of a back-to-back; and they were being hosted by a Golden State team that hadn’t lost at Oracle Arena in 430 days.

Amazingly, none of those factors hindered Boston’s play. Evan Turner stepped up in Crowder’s absence with a 21-point performance, Jared Sullinger added 20 points and 12 rebounds of his own, and the Celtics shocked the world with a 109-106 win, halting the Warriors’ NBA-record 54-game home winning streak.

The Friday night showdown marked Boston’s fourth contest of a season-long-tying five-game road trip. The C’s were fresh off of two straight losses, including a defeat that went down to the wire in Portland the night before. But Boston, known for its ability to bounce back on second nights of back-to-backs, was up for the challenge, and it delivered.

The stage was set for it to be an epic battle between All-Star point guards Stephen Curry and Isaiah Thomas, though the first half of the contest proved to be anything but.

Boston led by two points at the end of the half, despite the fact that Thomas was held scoreless to that point with a 0-for-7 effort from the field. Curry, meanwhile, had not performed much better; he had tallied more turnovers (seven) than points (six) by the break.

When the pair emerged from the locker room, however, they both turned the tides and took over for their respective teams. Curry canned two treys within the first 62 seconds of the third quarter, quickly doubling his first half point total. Thomas was quick to respond, as he suddenly caught fire and scored 13 of Boston’s first 15 points of the frame.

The pair traded jabs with Thomas scoring 18 points during the third quarter and Curry notching 21 of his own, including a 6-for-6 performance from beyond the arc.

Boston entered the fourth quarter with an 82-79 advantage, and eventually expanded that to a 10-point lead. But the defending champs were not about to go down without a fight.

Golden State battled back and brought the score to within one point when Harrison Barnes swished a corner 3, making the score 107-106 with 10.2 seconds remaining.

The C's then used a timeout so coach Brad Stevens could draw up one of his renowned side-out plays. Marcus Smart took the inbounds pass and dangerously lobbed the ball over Curry’s outstretched fingertips to Thomas, who was streaking to the basket. IT went up for the layup, hesitated mid-air as Draymond Green soared by and attempted to block the shot, and banked it in to put the Celtics back up by three points with 8.3 seconds left.

Golden State had one last chance, so they put the rock in the hands of the most feared shooter in the league. Curry was fed the ball at the top of the arc, successfully pump-faked Smart to create separation, and got off a solid look. But it clanked off the rim.

Harrison Barnes collected the offensive rebound and backed out to the 3-point line for the game-saving tie, but air-balled the difficult shot as the buzzer sounded. The C’s took to midcourt to enjoy a well-deserved moment of celebration as the Warriors walked off their home floor with their heads bowed for the first time since Jan. 27, 2015.

In pulling off the awe-inspiring, record-snapping win, the Celtics had also upheld franchise tradition by ensuring that Golden State would no longer be able to break Boston’s single-season home record of 40-1, which was established during the 1985-86 season.

The win also snapped Boston’s two-game skid and kicked off a four-game win streak, proving to be a vital momentum swinger while in the midst of a heated playoff race.

It exposed Boston’s grit, its ability to defy the odds, and it showed that the Celtics could hang with any team in the league. Not only was it Boston’s most remarkable win of the 50 it tallied on the campaign, but it was also one of the most notable team performances in the NBA this season.

2016-awards-series-game-of-the-year-april-1-at-golden-state

2016 Awards Series Game of the Year: April 1 at Golden State

Marc D'Amico

addByline("Marc D'Amico","Celtics.com","Marc_DAmico");
addPhoto("https://i.cdn.turner.com/drp/nba/celtics/sites/default/files/thomas-jumper-300x350.jpg", "Isaiah Thomas .", "NBAE/Getty Images", "Thomas-Sharpshooter");

It’s awards season at Celtics.com! We’re handing out six awards over the next few weeks as we roll through this year’s Celtics.com Awards Series. We may not have trophies or acceptance speeches, but we do have some top-flight Celtics performances to outline. Here we go...

BOSTON – Kelly Olynyk was the best bulk 3-point shooter on the Boston Celtics when it came to percentages.  However, Isaiah Thomas was the team’s most feared sharpshooter.

Thomas led the Celtics in both 3-point makes (167) and attempts (465).  He led the team by a substantial margin in both categories, as Avery Bradley finished behind Thomas by 20 made 3s and 58 attempted 3s.  Olynyk led the team in 3-point shooting at 40.5 percent, while Thomas finished fourth at 35.9 percent.

In order to average a team-best 22.2 points per game, Thomas obviously needed to do a whole lot more than just make 3-pointers.  And he did.

The 5-foot-9 point guard put pressure on the defense and got to the line at an impressive rate.  He attempted 6.6 free throw attempts per game, which ranked as the 13th-highest rate in the entire NBA.  He cashed in on 87.1 of those attempts, which led the Celtics by a landslide and ranked 16th in the NBA among players who attempted at least 150 free throws.  His mark was the highest percentage among players who attempted at least 500 freebies.

Thomas was efficient from nearly every area of the court, save for a couple of deep midrange locations.  That’s why he ranked third on the Celtics in true shooting percentage and second among perimeter players, behind only Jae Crowder.  His true shooting mark was 56.2 percent.

The most impressive part of Thomas’ sharpshooting ways is the fact that he was able to sustain such percentages while shooting so often.  He was far and away the team leader in field goal attempts with an average of 16.9 per game.  His average was 3.5 shots more than the next-highest average on the team (Avery Bradley, 13.5).

Add it all up, and you’ve got not only the team’s Most Valuable Player, as we already revealed, but also the team’s leading shooter and recipient of the 2015-16 Sharpshooter award.

2016-awards-series-sharpshooter-isaiah-thomas

2016 Awards Series Sharpshooter: Isaiah Thomas

addByline("Taylor C. Snow","Celtics.com","taylorcsnow");
addPhoto("https://i.cdn.turner.com/drp/nba/celtics/sites/default/files/160520turnersix.jpg", "Evan Turner led Boston's second unit in points, rebounds and assists.", "B. Sevald/Einstein/NBAE", "Turner-6th");

BOSTON – There’s typically a noticeable drop-off in play from an NBA team’s starting unit to its second unit. That was hardly the case for the Boston Celtics, however, as they possessed the highest-scoring bench in the Eastern Conference, largely thanks to the play of glue guy Evan Turner.

C’s coach Brad Stevens often referred to Turner as the team’s “jack-of-all-trades,” and rightfully so. The sixth-year swingman served as the second unit’s primary scorer, rebounder and facilitator. He averaged 10.5 points, 4.9 rebounds and 4.5 assists per game, making him the only player in the league to post such numbers while playing fewer than 30 minutes per contest.

Turner dazzled with his ball handling, was deadly from the midrange, and provided clutch scoring down the stretch, time and time again. He was also extremely durable, missing just one game all season – his first absence due to injury since the 2011-12 campaign.

For all that Turner offered, he deservedly earned the title as Boston’s Sixth Man of the Year for the 2015-16 season.

After starting 57 games for the Celtics during his first season with the team, Turner took on what appeared to be a diminished role by transitioning to the bench. The 27-year-old veteran made just a dozen spot starts, but he did not utter a complaint, embracing the change with an open mind.

Despite the role change, Turner’s playing time actually increased slightly from 27.6 minutes per game to 28.0 minutes per game. He showed great improvements with his shooting, posting career highs in field goal percentage (45.6 percent) and free throw percentage (82.7 percent).

Turner also proved that he could adjust to his weaknesses mid-season. His biggest struggle throughout the first half of the campaign was 3-point shooting – he shot just 14.5 percent (9-for-62) before the All-Star break, which was the worst percentage in the NBA among players who had attempted at least 50 3-pointers.

ET completely flipped that switch after the break, hitting 52.4 percent (11-for-21) of his treys over his final 26 games of the season – the third best post-All-Star mark in the league among players who attempted at least 20.

It wasn’t just Turner’s scoring that helped Boston, however; he proved to be reliable on the glass and as a ball handler. In fact, he was the only player in the league to notch at least 350 rebounds and 350 assists while committing fewer than 170 turnovers.

Turner also finished in the top 10 in a number of key categories among NBA reserves. According to Basketball-Reference.com, among players who played in at least 65 games while starting fewer than 15, he finished first in assists (347), fifth in steals (80), eighth in rebounds (397) and 10th in points (854).

With all of that being noted, it wasn’t surprising that Turner was one of the top vote-getters in this season’s NBA Sixth Man of the Year polling. He finished fifth behind winner Jamal Crawford, Andre Iguodala, Enes Kanter and Will Barton.

In Boston, though, he was the unrivaled choice for the award, as his jack-of-all-trades persona perfectly exemplified the sixth man role.

2016-awards-series-sixth-man-of-the-year-evan-turner

2016 Awards Series Sixth Man of the Year: Evan Turner

addByline("Marc D'Amico","Celtics.com","Marc_DAmico");
addPhoto("https://i.cdn.turner.com/drp/nba/celtics/sites/default/files/bradley-defends-curry-300x350.jpg", "Avery Bradley harasses MVP Stephen Curry with his heralded perimeter defense.", "NBAE/Getty Images", "Bradley-DPOY");

BOSTON - Avery Bradley didn’t lead the Celtics in steals.  He didn’t lead them in blocks.  Heck, he didn’t even lead them in defensive rating.

But he did lead them in support around the league as Boston’s top defender.

Bradley finished sixth in the NBA’s Defensive Player of the Year voting, finishing behind only winner Kawhi Leonard, Draymond Green, Hassan Whiteside, DeAndre Jordan and Paul Millsap.  Bradley earned 14 points in the voting process, while Jae Crowder garnered one.

Bradley’s rank among those who earned votes would seem to indicate that he is on track for his first appearance on the NBA’s All-Defensive First Team; he was a Second Team selection back in 2012-13.

The voting results stood as only one form of support Bradley received as Boston’s top defender.  Players and coaches throughout the season singled him out, sometimes going as far as saying that he would be their Defensive Player of the Year if they had a vote.

Portland’s high-scoring backcourt of Damian Lillard and C.J. McCollum made such remarks on March 31, after Bradley helped to limit them to 31 combined points – 15 below its season average – on 11-of-35 shooting.

“I told him he was the best perimeter defender in the league,” Lillard said after that game.  “Because he is.”

McCollum later tweeted, “Avery Bradley (sic) the best perimeter defender in the league and I don’t think it’s close.  Him and chief #firstteamalldefense”.

One night later, Warriors head coach Steve Kerr 1explained why Bradley is regarded by many as the best perimeter defender in the league.

“He’s got long arms, very quick feet and good anticipation,” Kerr said.  “He knows what people are doing and he oftentimes jumps plays as they’re happening or before they happen.”

There is not much statistical evidence to prove that Bradley is Boston’s top defender.  But the thing is, none of it is needed.

The words of Bradley’s opponents speak volumes, and that’s why he is the recipient of our Defensive Player of the Year award.

2016-awards-series-defensive-player-of-the-year-avery-bradley

2016 Awards Series Defensive Player of the Year: Avery Bradley

addByline("Taylor C. Snow","Celtics.com","taylorcsnow");
addPhoto("https://i.cdn.turner.com/drp/nba/celtics/sites/default/files/160506thomas.jpg", "Isaiah Thomas was Boston's lone All-Star representative during the 2015-16 season.", "David Dow/NBAE", "Thomas-MVP");

BOSTON – It was widely recognized that the Boston Celtics lacked star power entering the 2015-16 season, and because of that, many NBA pundits did not expect the C’s to make much noise in the Eastern Conference.

It didn’t take long for all that talk to disappear, as a star emerged in Isaiah Thomas. The point guard was Boston’s top scorer and facilitator, guiding the team to a 48-34 record – the third-best mark in the East. Along the way he averaged career highs of 22.2 points per game and 6.2 assists per game, establishing himself as the squad’s clear-cut Most Valuable Player.

Thomas steered the ship from start to finish, pacing the team in scoring on 56 occasions, including a franchise record 17-straight times from March 2 to April 6, while being the only Celtic to appear in all 88 games.

The 5-foot-9 point guard’s remarkable campaign placed him among an elite list of Celtics legends, as he became just the third player in franchise history to notch at least 1,800 points and 500 assists in a single season, joining Hall-of-Famers Larry Bird and John Havlicek.

Not only did Thomas emerge as the top dog in Boston, but he also implanted himself among the top players in the entire league by earning his first NBA All-Star selection.

He finished fourth in the East in scoring (22.2 PPG) behind LeBron James (25.3 PPG), DeMar DeRozan (23.5 PPG) and Paul George (23.1 PPG). He also was one of the conference’s top passers, dishing out the third-most assists in the East (509), behind John Wall (789) and James (514).

Thomas also did a whole lot of damage at the free-throw line, where he shot 87.1 percent – the third-best mark in the East and the top percentage in the league among players who attempted at least 500 freebies.

And, Thomas was the only player in the league to tally at least 1,800 points, 500 assists and commit fewer than 225 turnovers.

His scoring and turnover statistics were particularly astounding.

IT is listed as the shortest active player in the league, yet he is able to slice through defenses and score over 7-footers with ease. He averaged the most drives in the league (11.7 per game), which led to 35.9 percent of his field goals makes taking place in the paint.

As for his ball-handling, Thomas was one of the most sure-handed point guards in the East. His assist-to-turnover ratio of 2.31 ranked him third among Eastern Conference point guards who played at least 30 minutes per game.

All of those statistics allowed Thomas to contribute a team-high 9.7 win shares during the regular season.

During the Playoffs, Thomas proved just how important his scoring is to the team’s success.

When the C’s found themselves down two games to none during their first round series against the Atlanta Hawks, IT came through with a career-high 42-point effort during Game 3, and then a 28-point performance during Game 4 as the Celtics tied the series 2-2.

From there on out, the Hawks began trapping Thomas and swarming him when he drove to the lane, and his offensive proficiency declined. He was limited to just 33.3 percent shooting from the field during Games 5 and 6. The C’s were unable to get Thomas enough help on the offensive end and lost both games – and the series – as a result.

It demonstrated that when Thomas is rolling, the Celtics tend to hop on his back and enjoy the ride; on the other hand, when he can’t establish an offensive rhythm, Boston typically struggles along with him, furthermore proving that he was hands down the most valuable piece to its puzzle this season.

2016-awards-series-most-valuable-player-isaiah-thomas

2016 Awards Series Most Valuable Player: Isaiah Thomas

addByline("Marc D'Amico","Celtics.com","Marc_DAmico");
addPhoto("https://i.cdn.turner.com/drp/nba/celtics/sites/default/files/160504crowder.jpg", "Jae Crowder nearly doubled his scoring production during the 2015-16 season.", "Maddie Meyer/Getty Images", "Crowder-MIP");

BOSTON – The monikers bestowed upon the Celtics in our yearly Awards Series oftentimes apply only to how they performed in comparison to their teammates.  However, every now and then, a player will not only deserve consideration for a Celtics award, but also league-wide award.

That’s exactly what happened this season with Jae Crowder, who is our Most Improved Player.

Crowder is the runaway winner for the Celtics’ Most Improved Player award and he also finished sixth in the NBA’s Most Improved Player voting.  Crowder finished behind C.J. McCollum, the league winner, Kemba Walker, Giannis Antetokounmpo, Stephen Curry and Will Barton.

There is no questioning the amount of improvement that Crowder showcased this season.  In some cases, the numbers are rather staggering.

During his first full year as a starter in the NBA, Crowder set career highs in every major statistical category.  Most notable was his increase in scoring; he averaged 14.2 points per game this season, marking an increase of 6.5 PPG from last season.

Crowder also improved his rebounding by 1.5 rebounds per game (5.2), his steals by 0.8 steals per game (1.7), his assists by 0.7 assists per game (1.8) and his minutes by 11.5 minutes per game (31.6).  He shot 44.3 percent from the field, 33.6 percent from long distance and 82.0 percent from the free-throw line, all of which set new career highs and were strong improvements from last season.

Crowder might have been Boston’s most important all around player, and there is evidence to back that statement up.  He ranked second on the team in win shares (7.3) behind Isaiah Thomas (9.7), second in offensive win shares (3.8) behind Thomas (7.2), and second in defensive win shares (3.5) behind Jared Sullinger (3.6).  In other words, he was critically important to the team at both ends of the court.

What may be most impressive is how efficient Crowder was throughout the season.  Despite averaging nearly 32 minutes of action per game, Crowder finished with the team’s lowest turnover percentage among regulars.  He also finished second on the team in true shooting percentage, behind only Amir Johnson, who attempted 64.0 percent of his shots from within the restricted area.

It has been a heck of a 16 months for Crowder.  He went from being a little-used role player on the Mavs, to being traded to the Celtics for four-time All-Star Rajon Rondo, to being a full-time starter, to legitimately being one of the most important players on his respective team in the NBA.

That’s more than enough reason to name Crowder as Boston’s Most Improved Player.