Jayson Tatum’s long morning workout in Detroit and the competitiveness that followed that night confirmed dreams that the Celtics could contend this season. Jaylen Brown looked like the best player on the floor early, Boston won the offensive rebounding battle again over one of the league’s most physically imposing teams and Brown barely missed a game-winning leaner over Tobias Harris that would’ve tied the season series 2-2.
Elsewhere, a fading Knicks squad remained 1.5 games behind Boston as their season continued spiraling. The Celtics rolled over conference rivals Miami and Atlanta on their recent road trip, and entered Wednesday in an effective tie with Denver for the top offense in the NBA and 14th in defense, amounting to a tie with Detroit for the best net rating (+7.4) in the Eastern Conference. And however much Joe Mazzulla stresses it could all disappear tomorrow, this Celtics team proved itself as a legitimate contender in the first half of the season.
“We have to make that decision every day, so I’m not sure we can say, ‘this is where we’re at now,’” Mazzulla said in Atlanta. “We could lose it all tomorrow, so it’s everything. It’s just the process that goes into winning, defending at a high level, understanding the details, rebounding, offensive execution, time-and-score, situational basketball, game plan execution. We have to make the decision every day to get better.”
Mazzulla and the players never considered this anything other than another season to compete. The payroll reductions, comments about prioritizing getting Tatum back on the floor and a relative lack of front court depth the front office assembled signaled another direction: a step back that never happened due to excellent coaching, individual player developments across the board and relatively full health throughout the first half.
Still, decisions loom about setting the Celtics up best for the long term, Boston is still relatively high above the tax, and the team could use another consistent rotation player especially if Tatum can’t return this season. Brad Stevens, Bill Chisholm and company at least owe it to this group to stand pat and allow this team to play out the year.
However, reports have painted mixed signals about that direction. Old talks between the Celtics and Nets resurfaced about what would amount to an Anfernee Simons salary dump. Other interest in expensive upgrades inside like Ivica Zubac or Jaren Jackson Jr. reflect the team’s willingness to explore the other direction. The trade deadline could involve both for the Celtics as they focus on moves that’ll help them both now and in the long-term over short term fixes. There has also been some signal that ownership won’t strictly mandate payroll or tax reductions for the sake of doing so. Simons, long a subject of speculation over his status given his $27.7 million salary, has fans of his first half performance and in the building.
“I think a lot of teams are really in let’s see how everything looks as time moves on,” Brad Stevens said in December. “Everybody’s a work in progress … we’re all still trying to figure out who we are and what we can be. We will not put a ceiling on this group. If it makes sense for us to look for things that can help us, we certainly will, but it all has to be within good deals and it all has to be within the ultimate goal … retooling so we’re in a position to compete for what we want to compete for.”
Brown’s start to the season proved sustainable through his consistent availability and ability to beat different defenses. He received the most All-Star media votes in the Eastern Conference, and would likely finish at least in the top-five if MVP votes came in today. Derrick White and Payton Pritchard have managed one of the league’s best ball control back courts. Defensively, they’ve managed their rebounding issue, forced turnovers and used that to dominate the possession game. The Celtics, on many nights, look like they’re in full control and fought with the Pistons, split their New York matchups and recently took the Spurs to crunch time. They’ve only looked overmatched by the Rockets on a back-to-back that also marked their fifth game in seven nights.
Of course, they’re as vulnerable as anyone, losers to the Jazz, Nets, Blazers and Pacers with their speed, athleticism and size deficiencies on display in Detroit. The Celtics touted losing the 50-50 balls as a reason for falling short. They’ve changed their lineups constantly throughout the season and have to find a different closing group on most nights. There’s still an enormous amount riding on Neemias Queta staying on the floor. White and Pritchard have often struggled to convert shots against extra defensive attention, and they only recently rose into a tie for seventh in three-point percentage. They’ve opted for a quantity over quality approach to offense that they’ve needed to back up with elite offensive rebounding that might not sustain into the playoffs.
“Obviously, we’re less talented than we have been before, less experienced than we have been before, so this is the style of basketball we have to play,” Brown admitted in October. “We have to double down on it if we want to be successful. I think Joe has done a good job of that.”
That’s involved aggressive crashing, calculated defensive risk-taking that also involves fouling more and in turn utilizing more depth than in recent years. The Celtics’ rotation reached down to two-way rookie Amari Williams at one point this season and consistently involved 12 of their 14 available active roster players. Only Xavier Tillman Sr. and Chris Boucher have consistently sat outside their rotation this year, with the Celtics giving a nod to the Pacers’ layered, almost hockey style lineup attack that they utilized on the way to the Finals last season.
That makes the looming deadline complicated, given the culture, array contributions and connectivity of their start. Boston still projects to pay over $230 million between payroll and tax for this year’s team, and another season spent above the tax line would maintain their repeater tax penalty status through at least 2027-28. They still have long-term holes to fill and with each passing week, it becomes more unlikely than likely that Tatum impacts a significant portion of this season. Yet Brown looks the part of a player good enough to lead a team deep into the postseason, the top-end talent on the roster does what Mazzulla wants them to do at an elite level and the depth contributors fit in almost perfectly.
The Celtics have a flawed roster in a league now built to ensure each one has some flaws. Their room for error in any series remains small and full health, along with some breaks from their opponents missing bodies, have undoubtedly padded their record to begin the year. But enough is real here to make this group more than deserving of seeing out their season together — what’s become the greatest pleasant surprise of my Celtics lifetime through the first half of the season.
“Start of the season, the expectations weren’t high,” Brown said on Wednesday. “But these guys, they came in and worked day-in and day-out, and last year, we were second in the east, that we finished? We’re halfway through the season and we’re second in the east, so that’s just a testament to the work ethic, the resiliency of our head coach, of our leadership and that’s a testament to where we are right now.”
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