Why Celtics Will Repeat As NBA Champions Despite Pre-Playoff Questions

The first 82 games of the season are officially in the past, and it’s now time for the Boston Celtics to pursue their second straight championship finish.

Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown, embarking on their eighth playoff run together, have something they didn’t have a year ago: The experience of actually reaching the mountaintop and planting their flag as Larry O’Brien Trophy hoisters. The same goes for Celtics head coach Joe Mazzulla, along with all but two members of the team’s roster, which gives Boston a convenient edge. It’s been 56 years since the last time the Celtics drowned in confetti in back-to-back years, but this group has everything it takes.

From their ability to perform better than anyone in the league on any given night, to their mindset, to the team’s plug-and-play versatility, the Celtics are as prepared as any group could be. Few teams in NBA history, much less this season, could say they were as well-equipped as Boston was and still is, so while being mindful is also essential, there’s no reason why the Celtics shouldn’t also feel confident.

“It’s exciting,” Tatum told reporters at Wednesday’s practice, per CLNS Media. “It’s the best time of the year. The matchups are fun. You understand the level you have to go to when it comes playoff time, physically and mentally. You understand the challenge that’s ahead, and it’s just a lot of fun. It’s the best time of the year and there’s a lot to look forward to.”

Tatum and Brown, again, posted All-Star seasons while embracing Mazzulla’s selfless philosophy. So sure, Tatum wasn’t mentioned in the league MVP discussion, and Brown — who missed 19 games healing injuries — didn’t qualify for the All-NBA first or second team after failing to meet the 65-game threshold. But that doesn’t matter to either of the Jays. Mazzulla’s Celtics-above-all-else philosophy resonates with everyone in the team’s locker room, and it’s even more helpful to get the message across when Tatum and Brown demonstrate from training camp to the final day of the season.

The Celtics can finally act like a team that’s been there before because they are a team that’s been there before. They’ve endured the heartbreak — multiple times — and they’ve lived out the feeling of being the team that’s delivered heartbreak. Boston wasn’t the No. 1 seed in the Eastern Conference, but the team’s No. 2 seed wasn’t an example of settling when considering the nuance of everything that went right to get to a 61-21 finish.

Boston made chasing the record books a staple during its first go-around with Kristaps Porzingis and Jrue Holiday aboard, and despite the starting lineup going shorthanded in 13 fewer matchups than last season’s team, the impact was minimal. The Celtics won just three fewer games, they maintained their first-place ranking in 3-pointers made (17.8) and — most impressively — set a franchise record with 33 road wins, falling one shy of tying the 2015-16 Golden State Warriors for the all-time record of 34.

That isn’t something that just happens for teams not qualified to hop into the contender’s circle. It emphasized Boston’s standing amongst the rest of the league. The Celtics were the best road team this season, so while home-court advantage is a factor, there’s no team better prepared to conquer its challenge than Mazzulla’s crew.

“Obviously, there’s a lot of guys on our team already very experienced, and a guy like Jrue, that had already won, so we try to pick his brain as much as possible to prepare ourselves,” Porzingis told reporters Wednesday, per CLNS Media. “But I feel like every year is different. Every run is different. Every game is different. So what we can prepare is for a harder run than we had maybe last year. Cause last year we were really, really dominant and it kind of looked like an easy run for us.”

There’s no questioning whether or not the Celtics benefited from injury circumstances that derailed other teams last postseason. But that’s the name of the game. It was their job to defeat who was in front of them, and that’s exactly what they did — and they carried that into the regular season. Boston went 24-13 against teams .500 and above, and dominated subapr competition with 37 wins when facing teams below .500, which tied the Celtics for the league lead this season — with the Oklahoma City Thunder.

That was a demonstration of growth and discipline. Even though the Celtics have already won, their eagerness to ride the duckboat for a multi-mile ride across Boston still drives them to do it again.

But first, the Celtics will need to get past the Orlando Magic in Round 1, and Mazzulla is already setting the standard for what Boston should expect to come its way.

“I expect it to be a very tough, physical series,” Mazzulla said, per CLNS Media. “They’re very well-coached and have a lot of versatility, and they’ve got a lot of talent. I expect from here on out that every game is gonna be a fight.”