“Have we gotten higher from final yr? Yeah, rather a lot higher,” Jayson Tatum of the Boston Celtics instructed reporters throughout the N.B.A.’s All-Star Weekend in Salt Lake Metropolis.
Tatum had each cause to be brimming with confidence. His inventory has by no means been greater — as signified by the reveal of his personal signature shoe this week. Within the basketball world, this is a sign that Tatum has graduated from N.B.A. star to N.B.A. star. He would go on to win the Most Helpful Participant Award within the beer-league charade often called the All-Star Sport, a cherry on prime of the already M.V.P. caliber season he’s having.
He’s additionally the perfect participant on the perfect crew within the N.B.A., with the load of championship expectations on his shoulders and people of his fellow All-Star and teammate Jaylen Brown. This is able to be an enviable place for many groups. However the strain is exponentially greater in a metropolis house to a ravenous fan base and a franchise with lengthy historical past of successful within the twentieth century.
When requested concerning the Celtics working as a longtime energy relatively than an underdog, Tatum had already consulted the Professional Athlete Cliché Handbook.
“No strain,” Tatum stated. “We really feel like we’ve been, if not the perfect, among the finest groups all season. The aim has at all times been the identical: win a championship. So, you understand, simply do the proper issues. Don’t skip any steps. Take it sooner or later at a time.”
For Boston’s remaining 23 regular-season video games and a presumed deep playoff run, the scrutiny might be a lot greater than that positioned on final yr’s younger, upstart crew. The Celtics (42-17) have the burden of getting numerous methods to fail and just one strategy to be thought of successful.
“The environment will change,” Celtics Coach Joe Mazzulla stated in a information convention. “And so we’ve got to ensure we don’t.”
Final week, Mazzulla had the interim tag faraway from his title. He had been thrust into the function proper earlier than coaching camp when final yr’s coach, Ime Udoka, was suspended for unspecified violations of crew insurance policies. The suspension got here as a shock for the reason that Celtics had been an ascendant franchise coming off a finals run in a league the place continuity is at a premium. Virtually as stunning was that Brad Stevens, the crew’s president of basketball operations and Udoka’s predecessor, handed the keys to Mazzulla, who had been a Celtics assistant for 3 years however by no means an N.B.A. head coach.
All Mazzulla needed to do was lead the Celtics to a championship. No coaching wheels. No emotional victories. Simply victories.
His presence created an odd and weird dynamic. For a lot of the season, Udoka was nonetheless technically slated to return again in 2023-24 no matter how Mazzulla did. However Mazzulla obtained the Celtics off to a blistering 18-4 begin, quieting questions on whether or not his lack of expertise would hinder an elite crew. Ultimately, the Celtics rewarded Mazzulla with what is perhaps thought of gold in N.B.A. teaching: safety.
“The East is terrific. Clearly, the West is loaded up,” Stevens stated on a convention name final week. “It’s going to be actually laborious to win.” He added that it will be laborious to teach whereas “wanting behind you and looking out over your shoulder.”
Mazzulla is probably not wanting over his shoulder anymore, however the Celtics needs to be as a result of groups are gaining on them. For the reason that scorching begin, the crew has appeared merely above common at 23-13, relatively than world beating. They’re now solely a half-game forward of the Milwaukee Bucks (41-17) for the N.B.A.’s finest document and the East’s prime seed. Mazzulla has been criticized for not calling timeouts at essential junctures in video games. Over the past 15 video games, the Celtics have had a under common offense. In the course of the 18-4 stretch to begin the season, the Celtics had not simply the perfect offense within the N.B.A., however among the finest offenses in league historical past. The excellent news for Boston is that its protection has steadily improved whereas its offense has declined.
The Celtics ought to obtain a lift after the All-Star break, within the nice present of well being. The beginning lineup that took the crew deep in final yr’s playoffs — Tatum, Brown, Marcus Good, Al Horford and Robert Williams III — has performed solely 29 minutes collectively this season. That unit is anticipated to be at full power for the final stretch of the season.
However even with accidents, the crew is deep sufficient to contend. Derrick White, the sixth-year guard, has been a revelation throughout his first full season in Boston. In eight February video games stepping in for the injured Good, White averaged 21.1 factors, 5.0 rebounds and 6.8 assists per recreation. Malcolm Brogdon, whom the Celtics acquired in an low season commerce with Indiana, has been a dependable contributor and among the finest 3-point shooters within the league. Brogdon and White would seemingly be starters on most N.B.A. groups. That the Celtics count on to make use of them as reserves is a luxurious. In certainly one of their final video games earlier than the All-Star break, the Celtics almost knocked off the Bucks on the highway regardless of lacking virtually all of their prime gamers.
The expertise is there for the Celtics to win the championship. They’re loaded with playmakers, elite taking pictures and top-notch defenders who can play a number of positions. They will counter Philadelphia’s Joel Embiid and Milwaukee’s Giannis Antetokounmpo with a gentle rotation of cell forwards, together with Horford. Their division-rival Nets imploded on the deadline and traded away their superstars, Kyrie Irving to Dallas and Kevin Durant to Phoenix.
However numerous groups enter the playoffs with expertise, as Boston did final yr. Now, the Celtics, as Brown famous, needs to be higher ready for a grueling playoff run after final yr’s finals in opposition to Golden State, when the crew made sloppy, uncharacteristic errors and misplaced the collection in six video games.
“I believe this yr we obtained just a little bit extra expertise,” Brown instructed reporters. “So I believe that can carry over into the finals.”
Anecdotal proof suggests continuity and expertise are essential for N.B.A. groups to win championships, and that playoff failures are vital steppingstones to immortality. Michael Jordan and the Nineties Chicago Bulls suffered via the Dangerous Boys Pistons groups earlier than beginning their reign. Ditto the Miami Warmth, who misplaced deep in earlier playoffs earlier than successful their championships in 2006 and 2012. It’s extraordinarily uncommon for younger groups to win championships, although Magic Johnson was an important a part of the Los Angeles Lakers championship run throughout his rookie season in 1980 and Tim Duncan led the San Antonio Spurs to a hoop in 1999 in his second.
Some groups by no means fairly get there, even with expertise and expertise — like LeBron James’s Cleveland Cavaliers within the late 2000s. The jury remains to be out on the Phoenix Suns, who misplaced within the second spherical final yr after coming inside two video games of successful the 2021 championship.
That is the Celtics’ finest likelihood to win a championship since 2008, their final title run. In the event that they don’t increase the trophy this season, or a minimum of make the finals, they received’t have the ability to say it’s due to a scarcity of expertise or expertise. It’ll be one thing intangible.
Being in that place means the franchise should meet lofty ambitions. However it’s higher than not having them in any respect.