What to make of these Celtics
Good morning. We have a special treat as the regular season wraps up: Paul Flannery, the legend behind the new Hoopology newsletter, has an essay on the reigning champs as they embark on their repeat attempt. Plus, we have an assessment of what changed Thursday night and what's at stake on Friday. Let's basketball.
What to Make of These Celtics
By Paul Flannery of Hoopology
One of the questions entering the 2024-25 season was how the Celtics would approach their business as defending champs. Would they proceed with the same focus and intensity that led to a 64-win season, a 16-3 playoff run, and the hanging of Banner 18? Or would they choose the champion’s prerogative to not sweat their position in the standings?
What made their season compelling was that at various points they elected to do both. At times, especially early and late in the campaign, the C’s have looked unbeatable. At others, such as during the dark days of winter when they hibernated through an 11-10 stretch, their play hovered between bored and disinterested.
To be fair, it would have been impossible to approach their title defense with the same joie de vivre as the 2023-24 team, especially without leading spirit Kristaps Porzingis for significant parts of the season. No one could have reasonably expected such results, and in a stunning twist to the laws of sports talk in general and Boston sports talk in particular, no one really did.
When the grumbling over their uninspired play started growing louder in late January, the veteran Celtics put a stop to it before the All-Star break. More impressively, the C’s appear to be hitting their stride just in time for the postseason. Even without homecourt in a potential conference finals showdown with the Cavaliers, the Celtics are once again the presumptive favorites to come out of the East.
Had you offered the following terms at the beginning of the campaign: 60ish wins, second place in the conference, relative good health and positive vibes heading into the postseason, most folks would have signed up for such a scenario in a heartbeat. In that sense, the Celtics’ 2024-25 regular season has been perfectly acceptable, if not downright enjoyable to watch.
Much of that joy emanates from Jayson Tatum’s emergence as a top-5 player in the league. You could argue he was already in that company, but you can longer debate his inclusion on the list. What Tatum unlocked this season was a comprehensive understanding of when, where, and how to impact the game. Whether he ever wins an MVP award at this point in his career is largely ceremonial. Tatum is one of Those Guys now.
It wasn’t just the Tatum Show, of course. Payton Pritchard became a menace, Al Horford remained ageless, and Derrick White continued embodying the very personification of a winning basketball player. While Jrue Holiday began showing his age and Jaylen Brown’s season was something of a mixed bag, not much* really got in the way of the Celtics looking like the Celtics whenever they felt like it.
*(Oklahoma City ran them into the ground twice, but that’s a problem for June.)
Even not getting homecourt may wind up working out in their favor. Once the Cavs began putting distance between themselves and Boston for the top record in the conference, the C’s essentially backed off their pursuit. In a sense, Cleveland’s inspired play did the Celtics a favor. No one – including the Celtics themselves – thought it was a good idea to chase the Cavs.
That restraint allowed Boston to rest key players and not rush anyone back from injury. That, in turn, led to the Celtics rarely playing with their full complement of players and – here’s the key part – still finding ways to win. Lots of teams talk about Next Man Up cliches, few are able to actually deliver on the premise.
What this season reinforced is that you can remove any of their key players from the equation and still form the core of a championship contender so long as Tatum is in the lineup. They won games without Porzingis (30-8). They won without Jrue Holiday (13-5), and they won without Brown (13-3.)
You’d much rather have everyone available, of course. When the Celtics are fully stocked, it’s hard to see anyone beating them in a 7-game series. But maybe roster availability isn’t as necessary as it once seemed. Maybe they don’t need every core player of this team around forever.
These transient thoughts have been dancing around the franchise since their announced sale to a venture capitalist named William Chisholm, who has so far said all the right things about bleeding green. We shall see. It’s one thing to genuflect before the ghost of Red Auerbach, and quite another to bleed literal green when the luxury tax bill comes due.
All of this sets up a fascinating series of questions that will define their trajectory and perhaps set a course for the rest of the NBA to follow.
If the Celtics manage to win another title, would a new billionaire owner dare break up a chance at not just history, but Celtics history? Conversely, if the C’s fall short in their title defense would that make it easier to begin paring things down?
Not even the Celtics, whose championship window has essentially been open since Brown and Tatum entered the league, are immune from the CBA prison the owners designed for themselves. All of that reinforces the notion that time is never on anyone’s side in this business. If you are a partisan, this is a call to enjoy the moment and savor the way this team plays with a common purpose. If you are not, well, you may get your wish to see them broken up sooner rather than later. In the interim, these Celtics might just hang another banner.
Thanks, Paul. Glad to have you back in the NBA game. Free 1-month subscriptions to the best comments about the best Celtics trade ever from the other day will be going out this morning. - TZ
Scores
It's TZ again. - TZ
Cavaliers 112, Pacers 114 | Box Score | It appears Cleveland, having clinched No. 1, will rest down the stretch as four starters sat and the fifth (Jarrett Allen) played 16 minutes. Indiana still struggled with a full deck but took control in the final few minutes and clinched the No. 4 seed at worst.
Knicks 106, Pistons 115 | Box Score | New York still needs one more win or Pacers loss to lock in No. 3, so Jalen Brunson, Mikal Bridges and Karl-Anthony Towns all played. But Towns faced foul trouble and the Knicks defense had Cade Cunningham trouble.
I hope that this game was not an omen for my Knicksish friends.
Hawks 133, Nets 109 | Box Score | Trae Young is cold.
The touch on the running push shot is pretty special.
Zaccharie Risacher might be special, too. He's almost certainly an NBA starter at minimum, and he just might turn into a star. Atlanta chose well.
Pelicans 111, Bucks 136 | Box Score | Look, if Giannis Antetokounmpo is healthy in the playoffs, the Bucks are a problem. How big of a problem? That depends on the opponent, if depends on whether Damian Lillard is cleared, it depends on whether Kevin Porter Jr., Bobby Portis and Kyle Kuzma can step up and if Gary Trent Jr. and Taurean Prince can hit threes. But Giannis is going to put the pressure on every single night.
You know it's a game in Milwaukee when there's a delay because a player exploded a beer can by stepping on it on the sideline.
Timberwolves 141, Grizzlies 125 | Box Score | One of those games where every time you look up, it's a bucket. The No. 6 defense (Minnesota) and the No. 12 defense (Memphis) and you'd never know it.
It all fell apart for the Grizzlies in the third quarter, where they gave up 52 points. Impressive!
The result saves Minnesota's shot at escaping the play-in and makes it more likely Memphis sticks in it.
Playoff Update
Let's start in the East.
Cleveland and Boston are locked in at Nos. 1 and 2 respectively.
The Knicks will be the No. 3 seed if they win one of their final two games (vs. Cleveland, at Brooklyn) or if the Pacers lose one of their two remaining games (vs. Orlando, at Cleveland).
The Bucks and Pistons will play Friday (in Detroit) and Sunday (in Milwaukee). If the Bucks win either, they are the No. 5 seed and face the No. 4 seed in the first round. If the Pistons sweep both games, they will be the No. 5 seed and the Bucks will fall to No. 6 and face the No. 3 seed in the first round. So the Bucks just need one win this weekend to get No. 5 (and likely the Pacers).
The Magic are locked in at No. 7. They will host a play-in game with a chance to become the No. 7 seed in the playoffs.
The Hawks can clinch No. 8 with one win in their final two games (at Philadelphia, vs. Orlando) or a Bulls or Heat loss. If the Hawks lose both and the Bulls win both remaining games (vs. Washington, at Philadelphia), Chicago will be No. 8. If the Heat also win both (at New Orleans, vs. Washington), Atlanta would fall to No. 10. Miami can get to No. 8 if the Hawks and Bulls both go 0-2 and Miami sweeps their games.
Now to the West. LOL.
The Thunder and Rockets are locked in at Nos. 1 and 2.
The Lakers can clinch No. 3 with one win (vs. Houston, at Portland) or a loss by the Clippers or Nuggets. Two losses for L.A. could drop them as far as No. 5.
The Clippers (at Kings, at Warriors) have a wide range of possibilities. If they win twice, their floor is No. 5, landing higher if the Lakers lose both or the Nuggets lose one.
The Nuggets (vs. Memphis, at Houston) have a wide range of possibilities. Beating the Grizzlies gives them a strong likelihood of a top-6 seed. Two wins gives them a floor of No. 5.
The Timberwolves host the Nets and Jazz. LOL. Winning both gives them a top-6 seed thanks to their win over Memphis on Thursday. Losing one or both likely knocks them into the play-in.
The Warriors (at Portland, vs. Clippers) have a wide range of possibilities. Winning twice gets them into the top six. The Sunday game against L.A. looms quite large.
The Grizzlies (at Denver, vs. Dallas) no longer control their own destiny. They could win both games and still end up in the play-in.
The Kings and Mavericks will meet in the lower play-in game. One win for Sacramento (vs. Clippers, vs. Phoenix) clinches home court in that game. Two Sacramento losses and two wins for Dallas (vs. Toronto, at Memphis) gives home court to the Mavericks.
Well that cleared it all up, didn't it?
Schedule
We'll be back with a special mini-issue for paid subscribers only on Saturday morning with the aftermath of Friday night.
All times Eastern. We're done with asterisks! Now the most important games are in bold. And I'm going to be more judicious with my assertions of importance.
Bucks at Pistons, 7, NBA TV
Magic at Pacers, 7
Hawks at Sixers, 7
Hornets at Celtics, 7:30
Cavaliers at Knicks, 7:30
Wizards at Bulls, 8
Heat at Pelicans, 8
Raptors at Mavericks, 8:30
Nets at Timberwolves, 9
Grizzlies at Nuggets, 9
Thunder at Jazz, 9:30
Spurs at Suns, 10
Warriors at Blazers, 10
Clippers at Kings, 10
Rockets at Lakers, 10:30, NBA TV
Alright, that's all. Be excellent to each other.
