The Boston Celtics have done everything they can to bring a winning culture back to the city by creating a modern-day “Big Three” that team management hopes will resemble the 2008 championship team that was led by Kevin Garnett, Paul Pierce and Ray Allen.
Why does Joe Mazzulla care about old Gary Washburn columns?
Jayson Tatum, Jaylen Brown and Kristaps Porzingis so far are living up to the hype, and statistically are actually averaging better numbers than Garnett, Pierce and Allen did.
As a trio, Tatum, Porzingis and Brown are averaging 70.3 points per game this season and have led the Celtics to a 7-2 start. Garnett, Pierce and Allen averaged 55.8 points per game during that 2007-08 season while leading Boston to a league-best 66-16 record.
It does have to be noted that the NBA is a more offensive league now than it was in 2007-08, with teams averaging nearly 14 more points per game now than they did then. That Celtics team gave up just 90.3 points per game, while this Celtics team is giving up 106.8.
Tatum has led the way this season, averaging 27.7 points, 9.2 rebounds and 3.6 assists per game. Tatum also leads the NBA in plus-minus at +167. Tatum is doing this while also being efficient, shooting a career-best 52% from the field and 39.5% from three.
Pierce averaged 19.6 points, 5.1 rebounds and 4.5 assists in 2007-08, leading the trio in points like Tatum is now. Pierce wasn’t as efficient as Tatum has been so far, shooting 46.4% from the field and 39.2% from three.
Porzingis is averaging 19.6 points, 6.2 rebounds, and 1.8 assists in comparison to Garnett’s 18.8 points, 9.2 rebounds and 3.4 assists. The fact that you can even compare Porzingis with Garnett, who is one of the best big men to ever play the game, tells you how great of a place this current Celtics team is in right now.
As for Brown, he’s averaging 23.0 points, 5.2 rebounds and 2.9 assists per game, compared to Allen’s 17.4 points, 3.7 rebounds and 3.1 assists. As for efficiency, Brown is shooting 46.7% from the field and 38.2% from three. Allen was 44.5% from the field and 39.8% from three. When Brown’s efficiency numbers are just behind one of the greatest shooters of all time, it tells you how legit this new trio is.
The rebuild to get back to championship-level basketball has been a challenge since Danny Ainge shipped off Garnett and Pierce for draft picks that wound up getting the Celtics Brown and Tatum. Ten years later, Boston has a new big three in town who have the potential to win at least one championship and possibly more, with Tatum being 25, Brown 27, and Porzingis 28.
The 2023-24 Celtics still have a long way to go to prove themselves, and need to win a championship before truly living up to any comparison to their predecessors. But looking at the numbers, the modern-day big three look like they’re on the right track to bring Banner 18 to Boston if everything goes as planned.