The ’22-23 NBA season is still young, but some patterns and trends are beginning to take shape. Chief among them? The Boston Celtics are very, very good. At the time of this writing, the Celts sit atop the league’s power rankings, so it’s no surprise Boston owns some of the most important accolades around. According to Bleacher Report, the third-best line-up in the entire NBA belongs to the Celtics.
We’re just about one-fifth of the way through the season, and the combination of Marcus Smart, Derrick White, Jaylen Brown, Jayson Tatum, and Al Horford have posted a net rating of plus-15.5.
That’s the third-best mark second only to starting line-ups in Golden State and Sacramento.
Boston’s defense isn’t quite as potent as it was last season. Instead, the Celtics are predominantly winning games behind stellar offense. Heading into Monday night, the club had the league’s highest offensive rating by a healthy margin.
All five of the players in this Celtics’ line-up are averaging at least 10 points per game.
They’re all posting at least 3 rebounds and 2 assists as well. (Boston also has two additional players scoring 10+ points per game in Malcolm Brogdon and Grant Williams.)
Derrick White has been especially good over the past few games, and Jaylen Brown looks poised to make some noise in the All-Star conversation. Jayson Tatum, though, may take the cake.
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Story originally appeared on Celtics Wire