3 NBA stars DeMar DeRozan is showing up this season

NBA stars DeMar DeRozan is showing up this season: Jaylen Brown

Another team that is off to a really disappointing start this season that was expected to make a deep postseason run is the Boston Celtics. Injuries and chemistry issues (at times at least) have seemingly washed out any hopes that the Celtics had of getting off to a solid start this season.

And things don’t get any easier for the Celtics when you consider the fact that the star wing/forward duo of Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown was barely healthy and playing well together at the same time so far.

All of these factors have culminated in an 18-19 start for the Celtics through the first 37 games of the regular season. While Brown has picked up his play of late too, the Celtics still have a long way to go to make up ground in the Eastern Conference standings.

Brown is definitely picking up his play of late, but this is still a disappointing start for him by most considerations. He’s averaged around 24 points per game, six rebounds, three assists, one steal, and three turnovers while shooting 46 percent from the field, 36 percent from beyond the arc, and 77 percent from the free-throw line.

DeRozan has more than doubled Brown’s total number of win shares and win shares per 48 minutes this season. He’s also got a healthy edge in terms of box plus/minus, value over replacement player, and player efficiency rating.

Moreover, in the one game where Brown and the Celtics faced DeRozan and the Bulls, Chicago came out on top in convincing fashion by a 14-point margin. DeRozan had one of his best games of the season in that win over the Celtics, with a game-high 37 points, six rebounds, two assists, one steal, one block, and just one turnover.