The Boston Celtics secured their 46th win of the season. They defeated the Golden State Warriors 120-99, taking full advantage of the injury issues Steve Kerr is being forced to navigate. Joe Mazzulla’s team dominated on both sides of the ball with some stellar defense and expertly executed offense.
During his postgame news conference, Kerr spoke glowingly of the Celtics. The nine-time NBA champion (five as a player, four as a coach) admitted that he’s been impressed with the work Mazzulla and his coaching staff have been doing, while also admitting the Celtics are a genuine threat in the East.
“When we played them a month ago, I was just blown away by how good they were, the spacing. The execution, they got good shots over and over again,” Kerr said, via CLNS Media. “They played so well together, and that was without Jayson even. And I just think the continuity of what they've built has carried over so that, even with all the departures, they still know exactly who they are. Now they get Jayson back.”
“Nobody was really talking a whole lot about them," Kerr continued. "And that's kind of a nice position to be in if you're used to being, you know, a favorite year after year. Feels to me like they really took advantage of it, developed some of their young guys. Really hammered home their expectations for those guys and roles. I just thought every guy on that team knew exactly who they were. So I'm just really, really impressed by the job Joe and Brad have done— you know, putting this team together. And, yeah, they're a real favorite for sure.”
There’s no denying that Boston has surpassed most of our expectations. Coming into the season, some segments of the fan base were calling for the team to tank in search of a high draft pick. Instead, Mazzulla and his staff have overseen a period of internal growth, specifically for Neemias Queta and Baylor Scheierman.
No matter what happens between now and the end of the season, the team's success given the circumstances it faced means this campaign has to be viewed as a success. Still, that doesn’t mean the goal shouldn’t be to try to secure a spot in the NBA Finals.
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