Celtics lead NBA this season in surprising defensive stat despite rough start

The Celtics opened up the season 0-3, with fans losing hope already.

It's an unfamiliar feeling for Boston fans, who are used to watching a team whose name is always on the list of contenders.

After their 0-3 start, they picked up two quality wins, one against the Pelicans and one against the Cavaliers.

This brought back some hope for the team and its fans, and despite the shaky start, one stat that the Celtics lead the league in shows they have to be doing at least one important thing right.

Which stat category do the Celtics lead the NBA in this season?

Through five games, the Celtics have the best opponent field goal percentage at 40.0%, meaning their defense has done a great job of holding teams from scoring (next best team is Spurs at 41.6%).

What seems to have gotten lost in the media coverage is that the Celtics lost two very winnable games (against 76ers and Pistons), with their offensive efficiency and lack of rebounding on the defensive end being what has hindered them the most.

Although they are preventing teams from scoring at an efficient rate, opponent offensive rebounding has been a real problem for Boston, which gives opponents second-chance opportunities to capitalize on.

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They are the worst in the league so far in that category, allowing 14.4 opponent offensive rebounds per game.

The Celtics on the offensive end are shooting 44.6 FG% (7th worst in NBA) and 33.1 3P% (8th worst in NBA).

Some of their players who have normally been reliable shooters are way down in efficiency this year, such as Derrick White and Payton Pritchard.

They've been able to improve in their last two games by managing some of their weaknesses better, going from letting up 16.7 opponent offensive rebounds in the first three games to 11.0.

In the same stretch, their three-point percentage went up from 31.1% to 35.5%.

These are just a few of the categories that, if Boston can continue to improve in and focus on, then they should be in decent shape going forward.

It will be a season filled with ups and downs for Boston to navigate, but if they can clean up and water can find its level in areas they've struggled in, they could end up being more competitive than many had originally thought.

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