Everything went well for the Boston Celtics last season, even when it seemed as though their luck turned against them. Now, as championship defenders, the C’s will pursue their first repeat in 56 years.
That’s ambitious, but it’s everything Boston signed itself up for over the past two years. It’s why Celtics president of basketball operations Brad Stevens went do-or-die mode two offseasons ago, and why majority owner Wyc Grousbeck has done everything in his power to keep the team’s roster intact — even amid the franchise’s uncertainty of its sale over the past few months before Bill Chisholm stepped in.
Yet, even though the stakes are the same this go-around, the circumstances are not.
Boston won 61 games in the regular season and maintained its two-season-long streak of losing no more than twice consecutively. But throughout the team’s first 82, several signs and outside factors beyond Stevens’ and Grousbeck’s control presented themselves as potential concerns. Sure, they didn’t harm the Celtics in the long run when it came to securing the No. 2 seed in the Eastern Conference or crossing the regular season’s finish line winners in eight of their last 10 games, but there’s more to consider.
Celtics head coach Joe Mazzulla phrased it best himself during Tuesday afternoon’s practice at Auerbach Center.
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“What wins in the preseason, what wins in the regular season, what wins in the playoffs, it’s all the same stuff,” Mazzulla told reporters, per CLNS Media. “It’s just the level of mentality that you do it with, and the discipline, and the focus, and the detail that you have on that. So, yeah, practice remains the same and you focus on those things and then you obviously tweak it once (you know your first-round opponent).”
In other words, no matter what you accomplish in the regular season, the playoff aggregate can make it all meaningless unless everything that went well is maintained. For the most part, the Celtics shook off every challenge that hurled its way toward them. But it wasn’t perfect, nor was it as dominant as last season’s title-winning run.
Therefore, moving with caution is crucial to prevent any costly slippage, and that starts with Round 1 against the Orlando Magic, set to begin Sunday.
Let’s break down the three premier factors that could restrain Boston from running it back and reaching the mountain top for a second straight year.
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Depth to support the starting five
Mazzulla revealed that during the team’s 10-6 slump in January, every morning he’d wake up telling himself he was getting fired.
On one hand, that’s a very Mazzulla-branded confession. But at the same time, there was a primary factor that continuously withheld the Celtics from breaking out of the cold streak. It wasn’t the coaching staff — it was the reserve unit. Payton Pritchard, who averaged a career-high 14.3 points per game and shot 40.7% from 3-point range as the leading Sixth Man of the Year candidate, was the primary source of consistency.
For the most part, everyone else was a wild card — like Sam Hauser, Luke Kornet and Jordan Walsh — or just flat out useless — like Xavier Tillman, Drew Peterson and Torrey Craig. Al Horford is still capable, but he’s reaching the end of his trail, so it’s not ideal to rely on the 38-year-old for more mileage than his legs can handle. Then there were the flashes from rookie Baylor Scheierman.
But the playoffs are a different beast and come with a different level of pressure. So everyone, from Jayson Tatum to the last guy on the bench, needs to be prepared.
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Boston’s biggest threat got even better
The Celtics didn’t have much wiggle room to get involved in any notable pursuits leading into February’s trade deadline. Instead, the organization watched as others across the league did everything to bolster their rosters.
That included the No. 1 seed Cleveland Cavaliers.
Cleveland swung a trade with the Atlanta Hawks to acquire De’Andre Hunter, then followed that move up by signing wing Javonte Green — better known in Boston as Tatum’s ex-Celtics best friend. Those acquisitions came at a time when the Cavaliers already led the league in wins and sent three players — Donovan Mitchell, Darius Garland and Evan Mobley — to San Francisco for the 2025 NBA All-Star Game.
The kings of the East went 23-8 following the trade deadline, demonstrated their all-in inclination and are eager to get their chance to dethrone the Celtics.
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Looming health concerns
Celtics star Jaylen Brown returned to practice Tuesday, just days after the four-time All-Star received right knee injections in an effort to heal the nagging pain that sidelined him for seven of the team’s final 14 games.
Everyone from Mazzulla to Horford to Jrue Holiday claimed Brown looked just fine and expressed zero concern about the reigning NBA Finals MVP.
“He looked good to me,” Holiday said, per CLNS Media. “I think JB is just gonna be JB in terms of not showing weakness. Everything is about not showing weakness, for him, and to be able to be the strongest mentally and physically. So nobody’s worried about him. We all know that he wants to be on the court every time we play, but we also know he’s going to be prepared when the time comes.”
But this concern extends beyond Brown because, as the Celtics saw firsthand last season when facing the Miami Heat, Indiana Pacers and the Cavaliers in the playoffs, injuries can crumble a team’s title chances. It forces unfamiliar rotations, amplifies the pressure, changes the responsibilities of everyone else and creates a massive challenge.
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Granted, it’s nothing the Celtics haven’t seen before, but it’s also something they’d prefer not to work their way around en route to chasing Banner 19.
Featured image via Eric Canha/Imagn Images
