Celtics' main priority in training camp: Improve the offense

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BOSTON -- The memory of the Celtics' Game 7 loss to Cleveland in last season's Eastern Conference Finals last season is still hard to shake.

It was a game highlighted by Boston’s inability to score, a year-long problem that was on full display in the final -- and most important -- game.

There are many things the Celts have to work on during training camp. But for them to be the last team standing in the East, which sounds more like an expectation than a goal when talking to the players, they know they have to be better -- a lot better -- at the offensive end of the floor.

Efforts towards improving in that area began this morning with the first team practice of the season.

Coach Brad Stevens hasn’t minced words when it comes to the need to be better offensively.

"We just weren’t good enough [offensively last season]," Stevens said. "We have some specific areas we’re going to really hone into."

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Last year the Celtics ranked 20th in scoring with 104.0 points per game. There was only a slight improvement over the course of the season; they inched up to 18th (106.3 ppg) after the All-Star break. Those numbers were reflected in their pre- and post-All Star break offensive ratings, which were 104.4 (21st) and 107.4 (15th), respectively.

The issue continued in the playoffs, as the C's posted an offensive rating of 105.1 (10th of the 16 playoff teams) and a scoring average of 101.4 (12th).

The numbers are even more surprising when you consider the team’s best offensive threat, Kyrie Irving, had one of his most efficient seasons scoring the ball. He averaged 24.4 points per game while shooting better than 40 percent on 3s for the third time in the last four years, in addition to connecting on a career-high 49.1 percent of his shots from the field.

Boston’s offense should receive a boost from the returns of Irving, who was sidelined for the last three months of the year, and Gordon Hayward, who missed all but the first five minutes of last season after suffering a season-ending ankle injury. But Stevens is quick to point out improvement can't be done achieved with just one or two players, either.

"You look at everybody on your team, the strengths that they bring to the table, blend those together," Stevens said. "That's our role. [Hayward is] one of 15 [players] that we have to be able to make sure that what we’re doing, fits best to him adding value to winning. To his credit, he’s a guy that can play a lot of different roles with regard to being a scorer, facilitator, ball-handler, those types of things. He’ll have games this year where he’ll score the ball at a high rate. And he’ll have games where he doesn’t but he does other things that add value to winning.”

The struggles Boston endured offensively are in stark contrast to the defense, which was ranked among the best in several statistical categories for most of last season.

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Being that good is a process.

"At that end of the floor, our major emphasis is we can’t skip steps," Stevens said. "You’re battling human nature (to relax) a little bit when you’re a good defensive team and you start a new season. We need to make sure we beat that and we’re dialed in to doing every little thing together to make our defense as good as it can be. It really was the driver of our success last year."

For this year, Stevens would love for the team’s offense to spend a little more time behind the wheel driving this team towards success.

"We have some real areas to improve there," Stevens said. "We’re not at the level we want to be at. We’ll see if we put in the work defensively and improve offensively."

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