Life hasn’t always been easy for recent NBA champions. There have been seven different champions over the past seven years, and the past six haven't gotten out of the second round. It’s a far cry from what happened between 1987 and 2002, when championships almost exclusively came in multiples (only the 1999 Spurs didn’t repeat).
The Celtics are hoping to buck the trend, and they seem to be in a good place to make that happen. But we’re still a week away from that journey officially beginning, so we have a moment to bask in what was one of the most successful seasons in team history.
“Another incredible season. You know, 60-plus-win team,” Jayson Tatum said after the Celtics first of two wins over Charlotte. “Obviously the goal is to compete for championships, but I think enjoying the process along the way and cherishing those small wins per se, and acknowledging that we had another incredible regular season. Something to be proud of for sure.”
The 61 wins ties these Celtics with the 1980 team for 11th-most in team history. It’s only three off last year’s pace, which is incredibly impressive considering their 18-12 stretch through December and January. The Celtics went 22-5 since the All-Star break, a .815 winning percentage. Only OKC did better. Boston was 2.5 games better than Cleveland over that stretch.
“It's a testament to the guys, really, in the locker room,” Joe Mazzulla said. “Just their competitive nature, their mentality, the ability to handle good times and not-so-good times, and the standard that they hold themselves to.”
The Celtics never lost more than two games in a row this regular season, and they only did that twice. However, they won at least five in a row four times. Their 33 road wins are the most in team history and second-most in NBA history.
“We had some slumps in the middle of the year but we finished really strong going into the playoffs,” Payton Pritchard said. “And then now, with the playoffs, it’s a seven-game series. No matter how long it takes we’ve gotta get it done. And we’re battle-tested but just hopefully we can take steps and keep getting better and better and get another championship.”
Whether the Celtics do or don’t accomplish that goal depends on a lot, some of which is out of their own control. There could be another Caleb Martin out there lurking in the shadows of what should be an easy series to make this run difficult. There could be another cold stretch that costs Boston games they otherwise would win. Bad bounces could swing the results of close games.
And then there's the matter of health. Jaylen Brown’s knee remains a variable in this whole run. He got shots that were characterized by ESPN as “pain management injections … in an effort to promote healing.” Mazzulla confirmed the injections before the game but didn’t give specifics as to whether they were platelet-rich plasma therapy, cortisone, or a combination of both. Brown has always said he and the medical staff have a plan to get him ready for the playoffs, so this could very well be what he’s talking about.
Kristaps Porzingis seems to be in a pretty good place, but one never knows what is waiting for him around the playoff corner. The Celtics have had to go without him before, will they have to do it again?
We won’t know any of these answers until they have to be given. For now, what he have is a 61-win season and a Celtics team that seems to be in a pretty good place. They have answered every other question all season long, which should instill some confidence that they are capable of figuring things out, regardless of situation. They have played every different style in the book, be it double-big, Tatum as the five in small lineups, 3-point-heavy offense, paint-heavy offense … this season has given them chances to play just about every combination possible. They know what to go to and, maybe more importantly, what not to go to. They have spent the end of this season playing zone, cutting more, and honing off-ball actions.
The record might not say so, but this version of the Celtics might be better than last year’s. The only difference between their records is a few bounces that went a different way. If this year’s team had last year’s desire in the middle of the season, we might be looking at a 70-win team.
Oh well, we’ll have to settle for 61, which is still a hell of a season. It’s also proof that the final number doesn’t always tell the whole story. And that whole story still has a few chapters to be written before it’s complete.
“It goes back to the duality,” Mazzulla said. “What we did is great, and now it doesn't matter, because we have to continue the journey, but it starts with those guys in the locker room.”
