Through the first quarter of the season, the Boston Celtics have proven that whether at home or on the road, they can compete with the best teams in the league. The problem has been competing with them, as well as lesser teams, for a full 48 minutes.

Whether it has a 19-point fourth quarter lead at home against LeBron James and the Cleveland Cavaliers, or a 16-point third quarter lead in Atlanta, majority of the team’s first 20 games have taken on a recurring theme.

No matter how much of an advantage Boston has and regardless of what point in the game it is, Celtics fans are expecting opponents to stage a comeback.

The reason that this notion typically holds true is because the team has a tendency to completely abandon how it has been building these large leads.

Instead, the focus turns to a more selfish brand of basketball. Players no longer focus on running the offense, opting to try and take their defender one-on-one, which has mostly resulted in long jump shots that come early in the shot clock.

As one might expect, the problem also persists on defense. When the Celtics begin operating as individuals rather than a team the defense can become unwatchable.

Sluggish rotations, clear paths to the basket and minimal effort to protect the rim help aid opponent’s in erasing the deficit.

It is almost mind blowing that Boston continues to play like this as it watches its leads shrivel from 18 to 12 to 7 and eventually result in a losing effort or having to hang on to squeak out a win at the very end of the game.

While this is a team-wide problem, the first two people to look at are Brad Stevens and Rajon Rondo.

As head coach, it is critical that Stevens not only recognizes the ills plaguing his team but that he is able to do something about them. Whether it is calling players out for caring more about their numbers and next contract than about the team, or finding the right line up to get the Celtics back to playing team basketball, Stevens has had ample opportunities to figure out this dilemma.

As for Rondo, one would assume that a pass-first point guard, playing for a max contract, would be able to take control of the offense and get guys back to playing team basketball. Unfortunately for Boston, this has not been the case.

The Celtics have shown great fight this season. They play hard each and every night. Sustaining that effort throughout the game has been an entirely different story.

Give the team credit, the games are entertaining and it has shown that it can erase a large lead just as easily it can blow one. Now, they just have to figure out how to play for a full 48 minutes.