Three Crazy Celtics Pre-Playoff Opinions Before First Round

Using a well-deserved week off to practice, re-calibrate, and psychologically prepare for the arduous trip of a long-awaited playoff run, the Boston Celtics have already set the bar for their first-round matchup.

Before Opening Night in October, the front office delivered by adding Kristaps Porzingis and Jrue Holiday to an already talented roster. The team spent a record-breaking $303 million to keep Jaylen Brown and showed faith in Payton Pritchard with a four-year, $30 million contract. Guard Derrick White was upgraded to full-time starter, and practically every issue that plagued the Celtics last season — depth, turnovers, preserving large leads — dissipated swiftly for a newly assembled core.

Boston recovered the Eastern Conference’s top seed on November 14, maintaining it for more than 140 days until finishing with an NBA-best record (64-18). Great, admirable, and deserving of a pat on the back. However, this is not new ground for the Tatum-Brown Celtics; it is only the newest installment in an ongoing drive to (eventually) complete the task and gain uncontested legitimacy.

While the Celtics await their first-round opponent, the winner of Friday night’s Miami Heat-Chicago Bulls Play-In Tournament game, there is a lot to think about before Boston takes the court on Sunday afternoon.

Here are three completely random, but relevant thoughts:

1. It would be embarrassing if the Thunder made a deeper playoff run
Granted, it’s harsh, but no less true.

Four years ago, Tatum, a rookie, and Brown, a second-year veteran, were in a similar position. Boston had the sixth-youngest roster at the time (25.1 years old) and came up just one win short of defeating the Cleveland Cavaliers, headed by LeBron James. Reaching the conference finals without senior leaders Kyrie Irving and Gordon Hayward allowed the Celtics to reintroduce themselves as legitimate contenders for the first time since the days of Paul Pierce, Ray Allen, and Kevin Garnett.

Cason lob to Chet for the slam 🔨#ThunderUp | @okcthunder | @BallySports 📺 pic.twitter.com/8Mflbzkeqv

— Bally Sports Oklahoma (@BallySportsOK) April 4, 2024

Fast forward to 2024. Boston clinched a playoff position for the next six seasons, reaching the conference finals three times, the finals once, and winning no championships. The pressure is already on, but with a young and hungry Thunder team making noise in the West, it would be a bad look if Oklahoma City moved beyond Boston.

Thunder head coach Mark Daigneault was named NBACA Coach of the Year, defeating Boston’s Joe Mazzulla in a questionable vote. That view of the two playbook head honchos may be supported depending on how far the Celtics and Thunder go, respectively.

2. Kristaps Porzingis can make (or break) Boston’s hunt for Banner 18

After a three-year breakout with the New York Knicks, followed by six modest seasons with the Dallas Mavericks and Washington Wizards, Porzingis had only 10 games of playoff experience, never making it past the first round.

Boston isn’t Washington, Dallas, or New York, so a first-round departure won’t suffice for what needs to be accomplished in the coming weeks.

“Best believe we’re gonna show up when we need to,” Porzingis asserted following Boston’s humiliation over the undermanned Knicks last Thursday.

Porzingis was limited to 57 games as the organization exercised caution while playing the 28-year-old. However, when playing alongside Tatum, Brown, and the rest of Boston’s starters, Porzingis has established himself as the league’s finest No. 3 option. He averaged 20.1 points per game, led the Celtics in rebounds (7.2) and blocks (1.9), and scored from almost any spot on the court. Porzingis set career highs from the field (51.6%) and from the two-point line (60.6%), while shooting 37.5% from three.

Kristaps Porzingis is ROLLING pic.twitter.com/Xma8SPtfgJ

— Celtics on NBC Sports Boston (@NBCSCeltics) April 4, 2024

When Porzingis plays inside, he adds a vital component to Boston’s offense that cannot be replaced. Before Porzingis suited up for the Celtics, the front staff correctly signed him to a two-year, $60 million agreement, ensuring that the 2018 All-Star would remain in Boston until at least 2026.

Porzingis’ lack of experience with extended playoff runs raises the obvious question of whether he can withstand the physical toll of the postseason. Granted, we’ve never seen it, so the skepticism is reasonable. But… Porzingis hasn’t played on a roster as talented as Boston’s, which provides Mazzulla with versatile rotations that will go a long way.

3. There’s only one way for Joe Mazzulla to put the Ime Udoka comparisons to rest once and for all

However, it is entirely up to the Celtics to put an end to the ongoing Mazzulla-Udoka argument, which began as soon as the now-Houston Rockets head coach left Boston in 2022.

Mazzulla made a number of mistakes in last season’s playoffs, including bad use of the team’s timeouts, failing to insert White in late-game minutes, and failing to prepare the locker room to demonstrate killer instinct. Granted, being thrown into the fire of being promoted to head coach with little time to prepare in the preseason was not the best situation for Mazzulla, but this season will not be his last. The leeway is gone, and the expectations are not going away anytime soon.

Mazzulla improved significantly after a complete season as head coach. He worked hard to reestablish the team’s defensive identity, propelling the Celtics to second in the NBA in defensive rating (110.6) – a feat they had not achieved in 2022-23. Mazzulla lectured, exercised, and persuaded the roster to embrace an open-minded approach. Whether it was developing NFL-inspired defensive strategies or emphasizing sacrifice above all else, Mazzulla’s effect was palpable.

Even before the playoffs, Mazzulla channeled his inner Bill Belichick by going above and above during pre-first-round workouts.

“Just continuing to get better,” Mazzulla told reporters on Wednesday, according to CLNS Media. “Obviously, we hadn’t gotten on the floor with our men in a while, so it was a big cardio day. Working on certain things, and then today just continuing to improve our execution, if-then situations, and reads, so we just wanted to be a better team, a smarter team, and just keep working at it.”