The Celtics entered the 2025-26 season with muted expectations and some murmurs from outsiders that they should tank. But through the opening 20 games of the season — roughly a quarter of the way into the 82-game slate — the C’s have exceeded expectations.
Boston has an 11-9 record, though that’s after an 0-3 start to the year. The C’s have been around the .500 mark without many huge streaks either way. But they do have a plus-4.2 net rating, meaning they’ve been above-average. So even though the record doesn’t pop off the page, the on-court product has impressed more often than not.
It’s unclear if Jayson Tatum will play this season due to his Achilles injury, but he’s been around the team consistently. Tatum has been on road trips with the team and has had a notable presence, which isn’t always the case with rehabbing stars. The Celtics, at this point, have not given a concrete timetable on when he’ll back.
But there are plenty of other reasons to keep an eye on the Celtics even if they’re not a title contender. Here are three notable stats at the 20-game mark of Boston’s season.
Jaylen Brown: 28.4 points per game
This is the first time in Brown’s career he’s been the undisputed guy at the top of the opposing scouting report. He’s been excellent to open the season even if he’s not generating much buzz. Brown has taken more of the scoring load with no Tatum and he’s hitting 49.0% of his shots. The 3-point shooting has cooled after a hot start, but he’s still at 34.7% from beyond the arc.
The midrange jumper, specifically, has been lethal for Brown. He’s gotten to his spots and hit some tough looks to keep the Celtics in games. If there is an area he can clean up, the turnovers are up to 3.6 per game as he can have some high-turnover games. But if there were any worries of Brown as the top option, he’s quelled those with his play. As a bonus, he’s also played in all 20 games and hasn’t sat a night yet.
Neemias Queta’s defensive rating: 101.8
There was no bigger question mark for the Celtics than at the center spot coming into the season. Queta has impressed as part of his breakout season, averaging career-highs across the board in minutes, points, rebounds, assists, blocks and more. He’s had one of the best defensive ratings in the league to open the season.
After losing Kristaps Porzingis, Luke Kornet and Al Horford over the offseason, Queta has stabilized the position. The backup center spot is now the bigger concern as the C’s have had to patch things together when Queta misses games. But Queta is signed through next season and should be an important part of the organization’s plans going forward.
Celtics clutch record: 5-7
The C’s have already played in 12 clutch games out of their 20 total this season. Those games are counted as within five points with less than five minutes left. It’s not a perfect stat, but it does show which teams are consistently playing tight games. That’s been the case for Boston open the year. To put it another way, though, the Celtics’ 6-2 mark in non-clutch games shows they’re not getting blown out much.
The Celtics actually have one of the worst net ratings in the league in the clutch at a minus-21.3. However, that’s a super small sample size at 32 total minutes. The C’s struggled to open the year, but the 5-7 record isn’t anything to be worried about. Teams are generally .500 when it comes to clutch games, so the Celtics are just a few bounces away from improving that record. Still, it’s something to monitor for the C’s.