In A Blink Of An Eye, The Celtics Have Suddenly Risen From The Dead

Isaiah Vazquez. Getty Images.

This team man, I'll tell ya. Just a hilarious collection of individuals. I think we all knew this season was going to be a wild ride, and if anything, the Celts opening week has only reinforced that feeling. From 0-3 and looking dead to 3-3 with the second longest active winning streak in the conference and the third longest active winning streak in the NBA. In that streak, we've seen them go belt to ass over a conference favorite (CLE) and take down a previously undefeated 2 seed (PHI) at home. 

Basically, the start of the season has been this

And you know what? I love it. I can't get enough of it. Even in their losses that were rather disgusting and mostly embarrassing given the manner in which they happened, we're starting to see this team form its identity. They play HARD AS SHIT at all times. There are still really realy really good players on this roster. They're flawed, especially in the rebounding department, and there will be games in which the shooting doesn't show up and that flaw ultimately kills them. But when they have nights where they aren't the worst rebounding team in the NBA and they don't miss every shot they take?

This team can hang with anyone. At their core, they are champions, and they play like it.

Basketball can be a funny game sometimes. In the season opener, the Celts puked on themselves and lost by 1 point to the Sixers, a game they had no business losing. The Celts had a 13 point 4th quarter lead, they had plenty of opportunities to win the game down the stretch, and they choked.

Last night, even in a game in which the Celtics did literally everything you could possibly do down the stretch to lose, this time around they were the ones who won by 1 point over the same exact Sixers team. Make sense of that

If anything, this game was a perfect description of the season and who this team is developing into. There are going to be moments where they look like the Celtics of old and completely overwhelm their opponent. They are going to play HARD AS SHIT. The young unproven guys are going to come in and make shit happen through sheer will. Then at some point, they'll allow the opponent back in the game and things will come down to 4th quarter execution. Some nights, it'll be there. Other nights, it won't. 

But what we're seeing is what I think most expected. This was never going to be a 15 win type of team. There's too much talent, and too much winning culture flowing through the veins of the core players. The question was more, are they Play In range (37-41 wins) or top 6 range (44+) while playing without Tatum? Given that they're at a 41 win pace through 6 games, there's still more to figure out, but it feels like we're closer to a

"The super competitive and let the chips fall where they may"  

type of team as opposed to a

"Completely overmatched, destined for the top of the Lottery"

type of team.

And you know what? It's been fun as hell to watch. Even the frustrating parts that have cost them games are sort of funny given the context of the season, which is a nice change of pace. 

But last night? Last night was about revenge. Last night was about pride. Last night was about surviving despite completely shitting yourself in high-leverage situations. It was awesome.

The Good

- Not to be dramatic, but we may be seeing Jaylen Brown play some of the best overall basketball of his life. I don't say that lightly given what we saw in 2024, but if anything, the 2025-26 version we're seeing of Jaylen is right on par with that Finals MVP version

You could argue no player on the roster had more at stake this season than Jaylen. Now given the keys to the team while Tatum recovers, all eyes were on Jaylen to see how he would perform in this new role. The early results?

The only complaint I have is the ball security. His 3.8 TOs a game is still a tad too high (5 more last night), but if that's the price we have to pay to get everything else, then fine. 

Remember, there are members of this fanbase who truly believed Jaylen couldn't succeed without Tatum. That he wasn't good enough to be a #1 option on a competitive team. I dunno, 27/6/4 on 55/47% splits with a 66% TS% feels pretty close to what a #1 option in the NBA produces, does it not? As the best player, it's a requirement of his job that he shows up every single night. That's one of the hardest parts of this role, specifically on this current version of the roster. There can't really be any disappearing acts. How has Jaylen responded?

Consistency. Efficiency. Leading by example. Again, outside of the TOs, I'm not sure you could have asked for a better start to Jaylen's season. And even when the 3PT efficiency comes back to normal, because let's face it, he's not going to shoot 48.7% on high volume all year, that's not even really the point. Just look at how much better his 3PA looks compared to last year. He looks healthy, he's getting great lift on his jumper, and his shot diet has been a perfect balance between rim pressure, midrange, and 3s.

Even with his new role and responsibility, we've seen Jaylen's FGA go up from 17.7 to only 18.2. That was one of my fears heading into the season, that Jaylen would feel the need to force things offensively just to make up for what the Celts lost offensively. In reality, it's been the opposite. Nothing feels forced, he's not just spamming his jumper and playing selfish. Jaylen has been so good at picking his spots and mixing in playmaking and scoring exactly how he needs to in order for this team to be successful. It's been a joy to watch.

- Basketball isn't a complicated game. In the first 3 games, the Celts were demolished on the glass, especially when it came to OREB and 2nd chance points. It was the main factor in each one of their blown leads/losses. These last 3 games? The Celts have won the rebounding battle in all 3. Funny how that works isn't it?

In their losses, the Celts were 30th in the NBA in rebounding. In their wins? They're 12th in DREB%. Overall, in wins they have the 8th best REB%. Now you can understand why this is such a huge deal to Joe Mazzulla. If this team rebounds, even at just a league average level, they're going to win games.

When they don't, when those flaws show up and they rebound like assholes, they'll lose. Sometimes it really is that simple.

In the first meeting against the Sixers, they had 21 2nd chance points in their win. Last night? Just 9 OREB / 11 2nd chance points and it made all the difference in the world.

- I've tried my hardest to stay on planet earth when it comes to Hugo, but god damn is he making it harder and harder every time he's on the floor. 

The raw box score numbers don't exactly blow your dick off, for example last night he finished with 5/5/2/2 in his 14 minutes (+10). But when you watch? You can see the signs that he is well on his way to becoming a real player. Defensively? He's already a monster

His will to win? Already elite. The man is legitimately willing to die just to prevent an easy bucket

I'm just going to say it. Hugo is a winning player at 19 years old. We've waited for years for Brad to hit on a late first round draft pick, and all signs point to Hugo being that guy. The same way Josh Minott has played his way into being a fixture in the rotation, that's exactly how I feel about Hugo. The fact that his defense is already this good this early is a little hard for my brain to comprehend, but I'm certainly not complaining. If you can guard, you deserve minutes, it's that simple. Add in the fact that Hugo is THRIVING around the margins and that's exactly what the Celts need every night, and I think we're ready for a consistent 15-20 minutes a night from here on out.

- Shoutout Xavier Tillman. His execution and production in the 4th quarter was sneaky very massive when it comes to pulling out this win. His rebounding was big, his 3PM was a big time dagger, and the way he was able to stay with Maxey on the final possession was most certainly a surprise

Once Maxey got him in space, I was pretty certain Tillman was going to get cooked or foul in that spot, so the fact that he played it perfectly should not be overlooked. Just a massive play by a guy who never really knows when his number is going to get called. Unreal close by him that effectively saved the game.

- He didn't shoot it all that well, but some big makes by Simons off the bench to help carry the offense that was very much needed. I'll take 19 a game and a +23 off the bench in his minutes, and while it wasn't perfect, there's something to be said about timely makes. He was able to produce in spots while both Jaylen and Derrick were on the bench, and his being aggressive while on the floor is so important.

I still think his best role for this team is as an off ball player/shooter, because his C&S numbers have been rock solid. Now they just need his on ball creation/offense to follow suit and now you're cooking.

The Bad

- I know the NBA is a game of runs, but we don't have to sit here and pretend like seeing a 24 point lead get down to 0 is acceptable or normal. I get teams will go on a run, but you're also allowed to stop said run before things get that dicey. One area this season that has felt problematic is the Celts ending quarters. They stink at it. Those final 2-3 minutes of every quarter are so important for a team that has a small margin for error, so even small things like a 5-0 or 7-2 run are killer.

In the 1st quarter, the score went from 35-20 to 38-25 in the final 1:16, which allowed the Sixers to retain some life.

In the 2nd quarter, the score went from 66-48 to 68-57 over the final 1:57 which completely changed the energy of the game

In the 3rd quarter, the score went from 89-77 to 89-82 over the final 0:49, which allowed the Sixers to enter the 4th quarter with momentum

In the 4th quarter, the score went from 108-100 to 109-108 over the final 1:37, which nearly cost the Celts the win

The way I look at it, this was perhaps more about the Celts catching a break then them having proper execution down the stretch in the closing moments of these quarters. You simply cannot be that poor in the final minutes of a frame and expect to win. That's the margin you HAVE to win, especially when you've played well for 99% of the quarter. If you don't finish strong, it nearly always comes back to bite you. Don't let the fact that the Celts survived this game distract you from that. 

- We're currently experiencing the worst shooting slump of Payton Pritchard's career from behind the arc. In fact, he's dead last in 3P% at just 17%. That, is legitimately insane considering they're all coming on good looks too. To make it even weirder, he's thrived in pretty much every other aspect of his game. His midrange/paint FG%? It's been awesome. His playmaking? Exactly what you need from that spot.

But the outside shooting? Disaster. No other way to say it. Eventually he'll snap out of it, but another 1-9 last night was brutal.

- Same goes for DWhite. Another 1-7 from deep from him as well, and a rather shocking -15 in his minutes. It's pretty crazy the Celts have won 3 in a row despite their #2 and #3 options currently being unable to hit a single jumper, in addition to sam Hauser only going 1-6 (1-4) last night. I believe that's what we call a prayer.

- I had forgotten how infuriating it is to play a Sixers team and expect an even whistle. A 24-13 foul difference, a 29-12 FTA difference, no consistency on both ends in terms of the contact allowed, doubling down on blown calls with techs. Adam Silver should be embarrassed. 

- Not the best end of game execution, and that's being generous. From Joe's decision to call the timeout with around 15 seconds left while PHI was trying to foul. To Payton getting stuck in the backcourt following that timeout, which forced Joe to call his last one. To Jaylen then turning it over coming out of that timeout. Just gross execution all around from everyone involved and something that HAS to get better moving forward. 

The Ugly

- Everything about the end of this game. Over the last 5 minutes of the 4th quarter, the Celts went 2-8 from the floor

Defensively, you had inexcusable mental mistakes, like Josh Minott for some reason doubling Embiid late in the shot clock which allowed VJ Edgecombe to get a great look at 3

There's just no need to double Embiid there. A contested turnaround in that spot is what you want. What you can't allow is a wide open C&S 3PA, which is exactly what happened.

And then of course, there's the FT shooting. This felt like a personal attack towards me, because 1-4 from the FT line in the final moments? Jaylen going 1-2 and then Minott missing both with 3 seconds left?

Inexcusable and another prayer that the Sixers couldn't capitalize off it. The Celtics did every single thing a team could possibly do to lose this game, but the Basketball Gods decided to throw them a bone. 

But you know what? A win is a win is a win. Ugly wins that you had no business securing still count, and at the end of the day you take it and move onto the next one. Things get much harder tonight with HOU in town and the Celts on a B2B, so we're going to get another great test to help show just how much progress they've made at turning the corner and saving their season.