The Last Two Months Of Celtics Basketball Have Been Nothing Short Of Basketball Nirvana

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8 in a row. 13 of their last 14. The Celtics have now lost just 4 games since January 29th. If you're not a big calendar guy, I'll remind you that today is March 30th. That .852 winning percentage trails only OKC's .862 for the best record in the NBA over the last 2 months, and if you're also not a huge math guy, that's a 69 win pace which by my calculations, is pretty fucking good.

During that stretch, they're 3rd in offense, 5th in defense, and 2nd in net rating.

With their 31st road win of the season to stay a perfect 5-0 on this West Coast trip, the Celts further cemented themselves as the best road team on Earth (31-7), with a road point differential that remains one of the best the NBA has ever seen in their entire history

So when I say this is the best road team on Earth, it is not hyperbole. It is reality. 

While understanding and acknowledging that these March games are to be taken with a giant grain of salt, we're not talking about a small sample here. These last 27 games account for nearly 32% of the season (23-4). If this feels familiar, it's because we lived this exact run just last season (you know, the one where the Celtics won the title)

From January 29, 2024 - March 30, 2024 the Celtics went 23-5. Not bad!

From January 29, 2025 - March 30, 2025 the Celtics went 23-4. Pretty good!

In 2024, the Celts ended the season with a 29-7 run over their final 36 games. With 8 games remaining on the schedule this season (MEM/MIA/PHX/WSH/NYK/ORL/CHA/CHA), it feels like they're well positioned for a similar close to the year, regardless of who is in or out of the lineup. That's what has made this year's run so impressive to me these last few months. They are winning at a 69 win pace while having nearly ZERO lineup consistency. Guys are getting their rest, guys are sitting on B2Bs, and none of it has mattered. That, my friends, is what being a wagon is all about.

And while I'm still adamant that nothing you see during March basketball in the NBA predicts what will happen in the Spring, I do think it is fair to say that for the second season in a row, the Celts are rounding into playoff form at the perfect time. Their seeding is locked in, and these games don't truly matter, but as you can see, there is no letting their foot off the gas. The standard remains the standard, and that standard is winning

With that said, let's dive in.

The Good

- As someone who has watched every single dribble of Jayson Tatum's entire career, one thing that has always been true with him is you can tell nearly right away as soon as a game starts what version of Tatum you're getting. For the 3-4 times a year where he's coasting in what probably should have been a rest day but Tatum refused to sit out, you can tell right away. He's not as aggressive, his rebounding is down, he's just sort of out there, not really playing with any force.

But when you're getting a locked in version of Tatum? It's the exact opposite. He's aggressive, he's playing with force, he's doing everything on both ends of the court at a high level. Guess which version we got in his return from the ankle injury?

Tatum started this game with what I would call a perfect 1st quarter. He wasted no time making it crystal clear that not only did the Spurs not have any perimeter wing defenders that were going to be able to consistently contain him defensively, they also had no answer for his basketball brain. Remember, this is a man who has all the answers to the test. There is nothing you can throw out scheme-wise defensively that Tatum has not only already seen, he's already beaten. 

His 8/4/3 with 1 block on 3-6 while playing all 12 minutes of the first quarter was what set the tone, and from there the Celts were off and running. That's the all around engagement level I'm talking about that lets you know you are about to witness a Tatum masterclass performance. His fingerprints are all over every aspect of the game on both ends of the floor. 

As it turned out, and you'll never believe this, this game was another Tatum masterclass

It's important to always keep perspective with this stuff, so if it's OK with all of you I'd like to do just that and put Jayson Tatum's 2024-25 NBA title defense season into perspective

I would now like to formally welcome you to Jayson Tatum's new floor. 

What you saw last night was Tatum once again flirting with another 30/10/10, which now makes the 3rd straight game that has happened. His 30/9/9 against the Blazers, then his 25/7/8 in only 26 minutes against the Kings before Sabonis slid under him, and now 29/10/8 last night against the Spurs. 

The scoring and rebounding parts aren't all that new. We've seen Playoff Tatum go 30/10 for years now. So for me, the leap in both this current stretch of play as well as his overall season, is in the passing. Tatum's playmaking jump this season is what I believe has unlocked this new overall version of who he is as a basketball player. In the NBA, there are certain levels you have to deal with. For some guys, it doesn't matter what you do, they have a counter. They are scheme-proof. 

Tatum's jump as a passer is what has allowed him to enter this level. Now, he doesn't just beat your scheme with his scoring. Now, he's finding ways to bury you with his passing, which then makes your life impossible as a defense. These passes are most likely leading to 3PM, so now you have to guard the other 4 guys on the perimeter. The issue becomes when you do that, congratulations, you just allowed Tatum to have single coverage. Guess how that goes for you.

His AST% has jumped from 21.0% last season to a career best 27.1% this season. Tatum already has 30 games of at least 7 assists and 13 of at least 9. The way he's able to manipulate defenses and know exactly where to go with the basketball regardless of the coverage is what has made this version of Tatum the best version we've ever seen. Remember, in addition to these 7-10 AST, you're also getting 30/10. This is not normal.

- With Al Horford getting the night off, that meant Luke Kornet was going to have to hold things down as the reserve big off the bench. The good news is the Spurs don't really have a frontcourt so in theory, this wouldn't be much of a problem. As it turned out, it wasn't a problem in reality either

I'm not trying to be dramatic or hyperbolic when I say this, but Luke Kornet was dominant in his 31 minutes. You see the line above, 15/16/4/1 which in and of itself is borderline insane for Kornet/ But then you realize he also went 7-10 and was a team best +21, I mean, that's the very definition of dominant. If you took the name away and read someone that production, they would say damn that guy was dominant. 

The fact that 7 of those 16 REB were on the offensive glass could not have been more important, given the fact that the Celts more often than not hit a big 3PM off that second opportunity. Those are the type of backbreaking plays that deflate a defense. It breaks their spirit. Everyone knows once the Celts start to see the ball go in from deep it usually means they're about to rain fire down on you, so Kornet single handedly creating a shit ton o those opportunities all through playing hard and being aggressive on the offensive glass was about as good as it gets.

Even when guys found a way to score over Kornet, I still felt like he played great defense and was right there to contest and challenge shots without fouling. His connection with Tatum is undeniable, and that is why the Tatum + bench lineups are so great. But I'd also argue that everyone else on the roster has also learned how to play off Kornet as well, whether that's Payton Pritchard or Derrick White. Kornet has such a good understanding of spacing and how to work with every player on the roster, he can play in any lineup. He sets fantastic screens which helps his teammates get downhill, and once that happens, they ALL now look for the easy lob that will be there every single time, given how hard Kornet rolls to the rim.

Think about what we're seeing right now, this is the Celtics 3rd center!!

- If these games are meant to help the players get into playoff form, I'm starting to wonder if that's what we're seeing with Jrue Holiday. He's a player that I would say has been on reserve all year, waiting until this part of the season to fully engage and empty the tank. That was more than fine by me given his age and how much basketball he'd played over the last few years, and it does feel like we're seeing Jrue start to ramp up to be at the level the team will need in a few weeks

I think the Celts are something stupid like 53-4 when he scored 14+ points, and when you think about all of the defensive attention the Jays are about to get from playoff defenses, Jrue Holiday's playoff production is going to be an important piece for the playoff puzzle. Part of their 16-3 run last year included how well he played. Both in terms of big moments and overall production. 

For Jrue, he's going to get the open looks, which means he has to be efficient. He's also going to have to find ways to use his size to get into the paint, and his rim production is key. He has to convert the point blank layups and the open 3s. That's it. That's all I'm asking for. As of late, he's starting to do that more and more

Over his last 7 games, Jrue Holiday is shooting 73% in the restricted area (71% on the season). From the corners, Holiday is shooting 36.4%, which is certainly a hell of a lot better than his 28.6% season average. The struggles from the corner have been the biggest part of Holiday's shooting regression, so if you're telling me that shot can get back to being a 36-37% option for a playoff run, that's a very big deal.

Holiday sits at 35% from the corners in the month of March, 36.5% over his last 7, and 60% over his last 4. That looks like something trending in the right direction to me.

- With no Payton Pritchard available, that meant the bench shooters were going to have to carry their weight. In that spot you could not afford a 2-15 type of showing from Baylor and Hauser, and to me they did just enough with a combined 5-15. Not a crazy percentage, but enough makes when the Celts needed them. It felt like all 5 of those 3PM were momentum, timely threes, which is pretty much the exact role of the bench shooters. You need to bury the momentum threes, the ones that push a lead from 12-14 to 15-18. The ones that cap off great ball movement and force timeouts. 

32 total bench points in a game you didn't have Pritchard/Al is a win in my book, and given how good Tatum and Holiday were with the starters it was more than enough.

- Overall, it was a weird night for Jaylen. He was clearly on a minutes restriction (29 min) and watching him you could tell he wasn't moving quite right and with full force. Jaylen still finished 6-9 from the floor, had another game with at least 4 AST and I thought made his biggest impact in one of the most important stretches of this win.

The Celts entered the 4th quarter up 13 points as they began those non-Tatum minutes. These shifts to open the 4th have been dicey at best this season, so making sure you survive those minutes and keep that lead was important. In those 7+ minutes of the 4th quarter without Tatum on the floor, the Celts shot 54/40% with Jaylen carrying the load with 6 points and 2 assists on 3-4 shooting. It was by far his best stretch of the night that helped, Tatum came back into the game at the 4:41 mark, and he closed out the win (6 points on 2-3 shooting).

It wouldn't shock me if we saw Jaylen get the finale off to help buy him some rest, because at this point there's no reason not to.

- A 54-35 rebounding difference is pretty wild, especially with 15 of them coming on the offensive glass. Add in 32 AST and only 9 TOs while also owning 2nd chance points, the Celts were also solid on the margins in this win as well. It's not like they went crazy from three or anything given they only shot 33% as a team, but the sheer volume (17 3PM) combined with being great with the margins are how you still find a way to drop 121 on the road without 2 rotation players.

Call me crazy, but maybe this Joe Mazzulla guy knows what he's doing

The Bad

- There haven't been a whole lot of times you could say this so far this season, but I thought KP kind of stunk in this game. Given the Spurs lack of size, I was certain this was going to be a great matchup for him. In reality, he was "meh" at best. Not really that aggressive, didn't really abuse the Spurs with his size advantage, finished just 4-11 (1-4) from the floor with only 2 FTA and the only starter with a negative +/- (-3) in his minutes. 

I think a lot of that is maybe not catching a rhythm given his foul trouble, but that foul trouble was often self inflicted. I didn't think KP got a bad whistle, I thought he just fouled a shit ton which is not really like him. The spinzone of course is that it kept his minutes to only 25 which helped avoid injury and the Celts won anyways because Luke Kornet is a basketball God, so really it's not a huge deal that KP had a stinker. Shit happens. Given his proven track record of immediately bouncing back in addition to the fact that he's largely been awesome and one of their most consistent players all season, I can't imagine being worried about it.

I just don't think he played that well against a matchup I was certain he would dominate. Oh well.

- Jayson Tatum's whistle remains bullshit. That's all I'll say about that. All we ask is for consistency, it shouldn't be that hard.

- While they only had 9 TOs which is good, we're still dealing with 3-4 truly horrendous turnovers a game. Jaylen's early TOs in the first quarter were brutal, just poor dribbling/passing decisions. Derrick White somehow still cannot throw entry passes and is averaging about 1-2 turnovers a game that come in that fashion, KP was loose with the ball, it's all very maddening.

I'm not saying you have to be perfect. Turnovers happen. I can live with traveling, maybe an offensive foul or stepping on the sideline. It's the horrific braindead live ball turnovers that really grind my gears. The ones that should be very avoidable and, at the very least, not show up every single time this team plays. Figure it out. Get better position on your post ups. Throw passes with more intention. Take a geometry class, I don't fucking know. 

I'm just someone who is preparing for a playoff game to be swung by a poorly thrown entry pass, and I would very much like for that not to happen.

- While I'm sure there was some strategy behind the decision to make the Spurs shooters prove they could consistently knowck down open 3s, I still think the Celts perimeter defense was pretty poor. For most of the night, it felt like we saw 50% energy level contests, leaving guys open etc. For stretches, the Spurs made them pay. When the Celts got their separation, we saw a much more aggressive effort to take away threes and contest 3s, which told me that for stretches of this game they were coasting with it. Whether that was by design or just poor execution, nobody knows, but I don't exactly love either option.

Keldon Johnson getting all those clean looks, same with Vassell, it's no surprise they went a combined 6-9 from deep. That's what truly prevented this from being a 20+ point win. Every time the Celts started to pull away, it felt like they immediately gave up an open 3 on the other end to keep things "close".

- I'll give Derrick a pass for his 4-13 (3-12) considering he made a positive impact everywhere else, but woof that was a tough one for him in his return to his old stomping grounds. He even missed a FT which is how you know things just weren't dropping for him in this game. Weird night.

The Ugly

- 8 in a row, I don't think so!

The Celts now head to Memphis to complete this 6 game road trip, and things are a bit of a disaster over there for a moment. To me this is the mental toughness challenge of the trip, especially when you've been gone for so long. You're already thinking about being home, you're fatigued, teams drop this game all the time. Maybe I'm selfish, but I want the perfect 6-0 trip. I need it.