Best Offensive Duo In Celtics History

[Roy H.]

Can we better define "offensive duo". I'm assuming in this case, the question is best "scoring duo" in Celtics history. I don't mean to nitpick, but when I rank players offensively, I take into account scoring, passing, playmaking, and rebounding.

Offensive means offensive, not simply scoring.

[boscel33]

The J's are great, but Bird/McHale putting up 28.1 ppg / 26.1 ppg in '87 when the game was really about pounding it inside is remarkable.  Give me #32 and #33.

[Kernewek]

If RWIII becomes anything like Chief, watch out!

Parish was always my favourite of the Bird-era Celtics, so I would be very happy with this - although they're quite different players playing a different game.

Speaking of different eras, minorly interesting that Tatum has already passed Ray in terms of threes made for the C's.

[johnnygreen]

Can we better define "offensive duo". I'm assuming in this case, the question is best "scoring duo" in Celtics history. I don't mean to nitpick, but when I rank players offensively, I take into account scoring, passing, playmaking, and rebounding.

Offensive means offensive, not simply scoring.

If that's the case, Jayson and Jaylen aren't in the conversation yet. Specifically, Jaylen holds them back because he is strictly a scorer and brings little else offensively.

[Chef Parish]

In C's history?  I'd take Bird/Mchale without hesitation.  also, I'd take Hondo with Russell and Hondo with Cowens.  Also Russell with Tommy and Russell with Sam Jones and probably Russell with Cousy.  I'd take KG and Pierce too. 

not knocking Tatum and Jaylen at all but there's so many great teammates in C's history that each brought so much to their teams and the game that exceed what Tatum and Jaylen have done (so far).  The J's are terrific scorers and defenders.  Tatum is also a very good rebounder.   The other C's in those historical pairings brought scoring and more.

How is Russell in the conversation regarding offensive duos?

you're right, my bad.  was just thinking "duos".   in fairness to Russell, if he didn't have teammates that could score like Jones and Tommy, he would have been in a position to have to score more and would have.

Or is it because th J's don't know how on a consistent basis to make their teammates better?

[Roy H.]

In C's history?  I'd take Bird/Mchale without hesitation.  also, I'd take Hondo with Russell and Hondo with Cowens.  Also Russell with Tommy and Russell with Sam Jones and probably Russell with Cousy.  I'd take KG and Pierce too. 

not knocking Tatum and Jaylen at all but there's so many great teammates in C's history that each brought so much to their teams and the game that exceed what Tatum and Jaylen have done (so far).  The J's are terrific scorers and defenders.  Tatum is also a very good rebounder.   The other C's in those historical pairings brought scoring and more.

How is Russell in the conversation regarding offensive duos?

you're right, my bad.  was just thinking "duos".   in fairness to Russell, if he didn't have teammates that could score like Jones and Tommy, he would have been in a position to have to score more and would have.

Or is it because th J's don't know how on a consistent basis to make their teammates better?

The team is playing pretty well for a team led by a couple of guys who don't make others better.

[sgrogan]

In C's history?  I'd take Bird/Mchale without hesitation.  also, I'd take Hondo with Russell and Hondo with Cowens.  Also Russell with Tommy and Russell with Sam Jones and probably Russell with Cousy.  I'd take KG and Pierce too. 

not knocking Tatum and Jaylen at all but there's so many great teammates in C's history that each brought so much to their teams and the game that exceed what Tatum and Jaylen have done (so far).  The J's are terrific scorers and defenders.  Tatum is also a very good rebounder.   The other C's in those historical pairings brought scoring and more.

How is Russell in the conversation regarding offensive duos?

you're right, my bad.  was just thinking "duos".   in fairness to Russell, if he didn't have teammates that could score like Jones and Tommy, he would have been in a position to have to score more and would have.

Or is it because th J's don't know how on a consistent basis to make their teammates better?

The team is playing pretty well for a team led by a couple of guys who don't make others better.

I don't think Tatum makes everybody else better the way Bird did, but I think as a unit the present C's make each other better.
The second pass out of the double team has improved this team the most. It's easy to get giddy how well their playing, but until someone stops them it's fun.

[Roy H.]

In C's history?  I'd take Bird/Mchale without hesitation.  also, I'd take Hondo with Russell and Hondo with Cowens.  Also Russell with Tommy and Russell with Sam Jones and probably Russell with Cousy.  I'd take KG and Pierce too. 

not knocking Tatum and Jaylen at all but there's so many great teammates in C's history that each brought so much to their teams and the game that exceed what Tatum and Jaylen have done (so far).  The J's are terrific scorers and defenders.  Tatum is also a very good rebounder.   The other C's in those historical pairings brought scoring and more.

How is Russell in the conversation regarding offensive duos?

you're right, my bad.  was just thinking "duos".   in fairness to Russell, if he didn't have teammates that could score like Jones and Tommy, he would have been in a position to have to score more and would have.

Or is it because th J's don't know how on a consistent basis to make their teammates better?

The team is playing pretty well for a team led by a couple of guys who don't make others better.

I don't think Tatum makes everybody else better the way Bird did, but I think as a unit the present C's make each other better.
The second pass out of the double team has improved this team the most. It's easy to get giddy how well their playing, but until someone stops them it's fun.

Yeah, but how many players did?  In the history of the game, three?  Five?  "Larry level" is pretty much impossible to top.

[18isGREATERthan72]

Can we better define "offensive duo". I'm assuming in this case, the question is best "scoring duo" in Celtics history. I don't mean to nitpick, but when I rank players offensively, I take into account scoring, passing, playmaking, and rebounding.

Offensive means offensive, not simply scoring.

If that's the case, Jayson and Jaylen aren't in the conversation yet. Specifically, Jaylen holds them back because he is strictly a scorer and brings little else offensively.

They're absolutely in the discussion.  You might have 1 or 2 duos ahead of them, but they are clearly in the discussion, as we're having it right now, and it's not unreasonable to do so.

I don't think they're the best duo yet, but the fact that we're comparing 24 and 25 year old players to entire bodies of work and even asking the question is very indicative of the potential of these two.  They both have a lot of room for improvement, but even entering into that conversation is impressive.

[sgrogan]

In C's history?  I'd take Bird/Mchale without hesitation.  also, I'd take Hondo with Russell and Hondo with Cowens.  Also Russell with Tommy and Russell with Sam Jones and probably Russell with Cousy.  I'd take KG and Pierce too. 

not knocking Tatum and Jaylen at all but there's so many great teammates in C's history that each brought so much to their teams and the game that exceed what Tatum and Jaylen have done (so far).  The J's are terrific scorers and defenders.  Tatum is also a very good rebounder.   The other C's in those historical pairings brought scoring and more.

How is Russell in the conversation regarding offensive duos?

you're right, my bad.  was just thinking "duos".   in fairness to Russell, if he didn't have teammates that could score like Jones and Tommy, he would have been in a position to have to score more and would have.

Or is it because th J's don't know how on a consistent basis to make their teammates better?

The team is playing pretty well for a team led by a couple of guys who don't make others better.

I don't think Tatum makes everybody else better the way Bird did, but I think as a unit the present C's make each other better.
The second pass out of the double team has improved this team the most. It's easy to get giddy how well their playing, but until someone stops them it's fun.

Yeah, but how many players did?  In the history of the game, three?  Five?  "Larry level" is pretty much impossible to top.

Exactly.
So the number 2 guy has to overcome Larry's advantage for a duo. That means the number 2 guy has to be a significant improvement on McHale.

[Roy H.]

In C's history?  I'd take Bird/Mchale without hesitation.  also, I'd take Hondo with Russell and Hondo with Cowens.  Also Russell with Tommy and Russell with Sam Jones and probably Russell with Cousy.  I'd take KG and Pierce too. 

not knocking Tatum and Jaylen at all but there's so many great teammates in C's history that each brought so much to their teams and the game that exceed what Tatum and Jaylen have done (so far).  The J's are terrific scorers and defenders.  Tatum is also a very good rebounder.   The other C's in those historical pairings brought scoring and more.

How is Russell in the conversation regarding offensive duos?

you're right, my bad.  was just thinking "duos".   in fairness to Russell, if he didn't have teammates that could score like Jones and Tommy, he would have been in a position to have to score more and would have.

Or is it because th J's don't know how on a consistent basis to make their teammates better?

The team is playing pretty well for a team led by a couple of guys who don't make others better.

I don't think Tatum makes everybody else better the way Bird did, but I think as a unit the present C's make each other better.
The second pass out of the double team has improved this team the most. It's easy to get giddy how well their playing, but until someone stops them it's fun.

Yeah, but how many players did?  In the history of the game, three?  Five?  "Larry level" is pretty much impossible to top.

Exactly.
So the number 2 guy has to overcome Larry's advantage for a duo. That means the number 2 guy has to be a significant improvement on McHale.

Yeah, I agree on that point.  JT doesn't make his teammates better like Bird.

I was more objecting to the statement from Chef Parish that "th J's don't know how on a consistent basis to make their teammates better".  I disagree.  Tatum in particular makes his teammates better.  He just doesn't do so at a Larry Bird level. 

[sgrogan]

In C's history?  I'd take Bird/Mchale without hesitation.  also, I'd take Hondo with Russell and Hondo with Cowens.  Also Russell with Tommy and Russell with Sam Jones and probably Russell with Cousy.  I'd take KG and Pierce too. 

not knocking Tatum and Jaylen at all but there's so many great teammates in C's history that each brought so much to their teams and the game that exceed what Tatum and Jaylen have done (so far).  The J's are terrific scorers and defenders.  Tatum is also a very good rebounder.   The other C's in those historical pairings brought scoring and more.

How is Russell in the conversation regarding offensive duos?

you're right, my bad.  was just thinking "duos".   in fairness to Russell, if he didn't have teammates that could score like Jones and Tommy, he would have been in a position to have to score more and would have.

Or is it because th J's don't know how on a consistent basis to make their teammates better?

The team is playing pretty well for a team led by a couple of guys who don't make others better.

I don't think Tatum makes everybody else better the way Bird did, but I think as a unit the present C's make each other better.
The second pass out of the double team has improved this team the most. It's easy to get giddy how well their playing, but until someone stops them it's fun.

Yeah, but how many players did?  In the history of the game, three?  Five?  "Larry level" is pretty much impossible to top.

Exactly.
So the number 2 guy has to overcome Larry's advantage for a duo. That means the number 2 guy has to be a significant improvement on McHale.

Yeah, I agree on that point.  JT doesn't make his teammates better like Bird.

I was more objecting to the statement from Chef Parish that "th J's don't know how on a consistent basis to make their teammates better".  I disagree.  Tatum in particular makes his teammates better.  He just doesn't do so at a Larry Bird level.

The present team is less top heavy. RWIII probably make his teammates better than Chief did, but he's not the player Chief was.
During the recent stretch they are just fun to watch.

[JBcat]

You have to go with mid 80’s Bird and McHale as others have said.

I just wanted to add it would have been interesting to see Lewis and Bias together in their prime.

[ETNCeltics]

Mid 80s Bird was at his peak, in the midst of his mvp run, widely regarded as the greatest player on the planet. McHale was and is regarded as one of the 4 or 5 best low post scorers in NBA history.

These are the kind of players we're hoping JT & JB become. They're just not there yet. To say they are is essentially - in using today's players as a comparison - putting them on a plain with Jokic and Durant.

[nickagneta]

Bird/McHale's best offensive year was when they were 30 and 29 years old respectively.

Brown is 25 and Tatum 24.

When all is said and done, the answer is probably going to be Brown and Tatum.