By the third quarter, what ABC had hoped would be an exciting national TV showcase game had devolved into a Summer League exhibition as the Boston Celtics spent Sunday afternoon bludgeoning the Golden State Warriors. With the Celtics leading 82-38 at the half and going on to win 140-88, both sides depleted their bench early in the second half, delivering yet another performance that demonstrated their superiority this season.
There is no such competition at the top of the East rankings, despite a close contest at the top of the West between two youthful, promising teams in Minnesota and Oklahoma City, the defending champions in Denver, and a squad in the Clippers that is finally attempting to live up to its potential. Boston is now eight games ahead of the Milwaukee Bucks for the conference’s top seed and should secure the number one spot in a few weeks.
clubs that are either so inexperienced in the playoffs that they lack a lot of postseason scar tissue, or clubs with a championship history, are expected to decide the West. As fresh competitors attempt to unseat the reigning champs, that should lead to some amazing matchups and compelling narratives; nevertheless, in the East, the main storyline will center on the Celtics battling one another.
In order to cope with the Boston teams of the past, teams like the Warriors and Heat established the standard by finding methods to irritate and bait them into making poor shots and settling for hero ball instead of playing with the flow that got them there. They tried to solve those issues over this offseason. Derrick White and Jrue Holiday have replaced Marcus Smart, the team’s longtime emotional and outspoken captain, at point guard. Kristaps Porzingis, the promising solution to the previous offensive stasis in the late game, convinced Smart to bring him in.
Thus far, the outcomes have been clear-cut. In the NBA, the Celtics’ offense is the greatest. In the NBA, their defense is ranked second best. This season, they have not dropped back-to-back games.
Though it would be unfair to ignore this degree of success throughout the regular season, Boston must ensure that all of this carries over into the postseason, which is why the next few months will be such a delicate dance.
With two or more weeks remaining in the regular season, they should have the top seed in the East locked up, which means they will play the most “meaningless” basketball of anyone. thus means they have to walk the tightrope between rest and rust, striking a balance between preserving the form that has carried them thus far and becoming as healthy as possible for the postseason.
Once there, Boston looks to be in a class of their own and will be the clear favorites to advance to the Finals among all the talented teams in the East. The East has some excellent teams. Milwaukee
is beginning to get things together under Doc Rivers, Joel Embiid should return to Philadelphia, and Miami has shown that, once they get to the playoffs, their postseason seeding really doesn’t matter. The Celtics’ biggest test will come from inside, despite the fact that all three of those teams might get to the Finals.
We frequently discuss the value of playoff experience in developing a champion, but for every winning team that has been shaped by past postseason disappointments, there are just as many that have never been able to overcome the emotional scars to win the big game.
Although Boston appears to be a club designed to do that, Chris Berman frequently reminds us that’s not why they play the games. The Celtics will unavoidably find themselves in familiar situations, but experience has its drawbacks in that there are certain things they have witnessed but were unable to overcome. They have been through a lot together, but they have also been through a lot together, and in order to move past that, they will need to go deep inside themselves and stop letting the past ruin their bright future.
The focus of this season has been getting ready for those
instants. After the Celtics defeated the Sixers despite shooting just 5-for-22 from three, Joe Mazzulla was nearly smiling. He was happy to have a game where his team still won despite shots not falling. When he’s playing well, Porzingis adds a level of floor balance that no other team can match. If you’ve watched any NBA content in the last few weeks, you’ve undoubtedly seen him ranked as the most important Celtic. He combines the rim protection they need on defense with an offensive dynamism that no team can really match. Holiday and White have maintained their superior defensive point of attack while increasing their
attacking silhouette from the guard position. Jaylen Brown and Jayson Tatum have had every kind of supporting cast member they could ask for from the roster as a whole. During All-Star Weekend, Tatum clarified to me that the opposing defenses don’t have any genuine vulnerabilities to exploit.
It’s difficult. You have to give up something, in my opinion, in order to protect us. Tatum remarked, “You can’t stop everything.” And I believe we were attempting to construct it. Place the appropriate players in our system so that if you have to give up something, it will likely be to a very skilled player.
Even after they had 60 games to prove it during the regular season, everyone is still waiting to see if they can pull it off at the most important times in late May and early June. To be fair, this is mostly because they dominated the East and forced everybody to focus on the playoffs. There will be a lot of talk about how the Thunder and Timberwolves, two of the best teams in the West, suffer from not having played in the playoffs, but there is also a freedom that comes with that that, if used properly, can be a motivator.
On the other hand, the Celtics will need to work hard to regain that same openness and play without the dread that may come from trying to escape ghosts of the past since they have from experience with how narrow the margins are once you get to the NBA Final Four. It will be exciting to follow their efforts, but if they are successful, it will make the first time they hoist the Larry O’Brien even more memorable.
