COMMENTARY

The Celtics came into season with an improved roster, but one that ultimately had little margin for error. That reality has been showcased during the team’s uneven start to the campaign whenever key members of the team’s rotation have been sidelined with injuries.

When the Celtics have been healthy, they have been a tough out; and that’s exactly what they were this past week after Isaiah Thomas returned from a groin injury. The 5-foot-9 point guard led Boston to wins over the Hornets and Heat, improving the team’s record to 9-3 with its starting five fully intact.


The positive stretch has put the Celtics firmly back into the No. 3 spot in the Eastern Conference with a Christmas Day showdown looming on Sunday against the Knicks at Madison Square Garden. Can Thomas keep up his All-Star production to help the Celtics close out December with some consistency for the first time all season? We examine that and more in this week’s edition of the player power rankings.

15. Demetrius Jackson: With Isaiah Thomas healthy, the second-round pick is getting some extended reps with the Maine Red Claws. The 6-foot-2 guard averaged 20.5 points per game in a pair of contests over the weekend and continues to show plenty of athleticism on plays like this:

14. Jordan Mickey: The 22-year-old power forward has played a grand total of two minutes for the Celtics in the month of December. One might expect him to join Jackson in the D-League soon, but he’s yet to suit up for a game with Maine this year.

13. James Young: The swingman has not seen the court since Dec. 2. If the Celtics do make a trade in the coming weeks and need a roster spot, he’d probably be the top candidate to be let go.


12. Gerald Green: A hip injury put Green back on the inactive list for a couple of games last week, but he was back on the bench for wins against the Hornets and Heat.

11. Tyler Zeller: Inconsistent playing time has been accompanied by uneven play for the seven-footer in recent weeks. The 26-year-old has made just one of 10 shot attempts in December while appearing in just six of Boston’s nine games.

10. Jaylen Brown: The No. 3 overall pick followed up his most consistent week as a pro with an uneventful one. Such is life for a 20-year-old rookie who is still racking up mistakes on both ends of the court. Those miscues, particularly on the defensive end, cost him second-half playing time against the Hornets and Heat.

9. Kelly Olynyk: The 25-year-old remains in a scoring funk that has produced the worst shooting percentages of his Boston career through 21 games. He is also still battling with Al Horford for the title of most unselfish big man on the team as evidenced by this exchange:

Rozier: “Take the 3!” Olynyk: “Nah, I better pass.” Horford: “NO ACTUALLY WE INSIST SHOOT. THE. BALL." pic.twitter.com/KQOoIoMLWK — Tom Westerholm (@Tom_NBA) December 17, 2016

8. Amir Johnson: After watching Olynyk and Jonas Jerebko earn starts in his place in the second half of two games last week, a fire appeared to be lit under the veteran big man in Miami. He responded with nine points on 4-of-5 shooting, four rebounds and a pair of assists, quieting the calls for his removal from the starting five…for now.

7. Jonas Jerebko: Good things continue to happen for the Celtics when Jerebko (+10 in past three games) is on the floor, but the Swede’s outside shooting hasn’t been a reason why. After a red-hot month of November, the 6-foot-10 forward is shooting just 39.5 percent from the field in December and is just 1-of-11 from 3-point range in his last four games.


6. Terry Rozier: The second-year guard leads the Celtics’ roster in plus/minus (+30) in the past three games as he transitions back into his role as a bench sparkplug with Thomas back in the fold. His ability to manufacture offense against elite defenses, as seen last Wednesday against the Spurs, continues to be an encouraging development for his long-term value to C’s.

5. Marcus Smart: An under-the-radar shift in Smart’s game that is worth keeping an eye on in the coming weeks is his shot attempt total, particularly from 3-point range. With his accuracy (27.4 percent) in that area as bad as ever, Smart has taken just two shots from beyond the arc in his last two games. That’s a sharp decline from his 4.4 per game average and those reduced numbers would ultimately be a positive development for the Celtics’ offensive efficiency.

4. Jae Crowder: The swingman has turned into a model of consistency for head coach Brad Stevens over the past month, scoring double-digit points in 12 of his last 13 games. With his career-best 3-point shooting (40.2 percent) accompanied by increased frequency (6.3 attempts per 36 minutes), Crowder has helped transform Boston into a top-10 offense. Finishing plays like this helps too:

3. Al Horford: It’s easy to overlook Horford’s spotty shooting of late (44 percent from field, 12 percent from deep in last three games) when you consider how he’s contributing in other areas of the floor. As Bleacher Report’s Michael Pina points out, the 6-foot-10 All-Star is on pace to be the first NBA player ever to have an assist rate above 25 percent and a block rate above 5 percent.

2. Avery Bradley: The 6-foot-2 shooting guard still holds a comfortable lead as Boston’s top rebounder (7.5 per game) over Horford (6.4 per game). He also added to his team-leading total of nine double-doubles with 25 points and 10 rebounds Wednesday night in San Antonio.

1. Isaiah Thomas: Rust? What rust? The Celtics desperately needed their leading scorer back after losing three of four games with him out of the lineup in December, and Thomas obliged by looking like his old self almost immediately. He averaged 24.5 points and 4.5 assists in wins over the Hornets and Heat while shooting 51 percent from the field. The point guard also pulled his best Tom Brady impersonation in the closing seconds of Friday’s victory: