Question for the staff:
What has been your favorite storyline this season?
Nate Moskowitz
There’s a lot that comes to mind, but I really appreciate how the team has handled this title defense season so far. Mazzulla started the season with an all-timer, “People are gonna say the target is on our back, but I hope it’s right on our forehead in between our eyes. I hope I can see the red dot.” It’s safe to say they’ve gotten hit with every team’s best shot this year, but they haven’t shied away from it. Despite a difficult couple of weeks in the middle of the winter, they’ve played exceptional basketball. This recent stretch of games shows that they’re still taking the regular season seriously, and using it as an opportunity to gear up for the playoffs. I’ve also enjoyed how the team continues to operate at an extremely high level even when they’re down a few key players.
Oliver Fox
“Do the Celtics want it enough?” has been far-and-away my North Star this year. It’s hard to say if Boston will summon the same killer instinct that saw them destroy, not just beat, everyone last year, but I didn’t see it much during the regular season. They’re still awesome, loaded with more top-end talent than most teams see in a decade, but last year their desire-to-destroy was palpable. I don’t know if it’s the same this year, but how could it be? You can’t manufacture need, and Boston doesn’t need this year like they did last time. Do they have something else to drag themselves over the finish line… perhaps the pursuit of true greatness?
Mark Aboyoun
The three point race to the franchise record. Going into the season we all knew the Celtics would shoot a lot of threes, but I don’t think anyone would have predicted Derrick White, Payton Pritchard, and Jayson Tatum would all be in for a chance to set the franchise record for most threes in a season. It’s uncanny to have one guy break the record but to have three teammates gunning for it is amazing. Whoever wins it out of the three will definitely not let the other two hear the end of it.
Sam LaFrance
Though it seems premature, the “how can the Celtics sustain success?” piece feels pretty important to me. Of course, we know that every franchise’s goal is to be great for an extended period of time. Very few actually have the opportunity in front of them to do so. Boston has two superstar level players in Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown, along with some elite supporting-cast guys like Derrick White, Kristaps Porzingis, Jrue Holiday, and Al Horford. The challenge that they now face is similar to a game of jenga. The new second apron penalties leave Brad Stevens with some surgical decisions to make over the summer, when he’ll likely have to move off of Holiday or Porzingis to avoid the league’s harsh consequences for overspending. Ultimately, the team’s ability to withstand the pulling of pieces from their championship tower will have to be built on homegrown talent. Thankfully, Baylor Scheierman has emerged as someone the team feels they can trust down the line. This season’s NBA Draft will be another great chance for Stevens to take a swing at sustainability.
Mike Shearer
I’m not sure if it’s my favorite storyline, but the sale of the Celtics is arguably the second-most-important thing to happen to the franchise this year after the team’s immediate title defense.
We still have a lot of questions, some of which will be answered this offseason. How will the new owners steward the franchise (I know Grousbeck is sticking around for now, but things will still change)? Will they have the spending power and chutzpah to shell out hundreds of millions in luxury tax payments? Where is the line?
The full ramifications of the sale won’t materialize for years, but it’s something that could impact Celtics fans for decades. (edited)
Bobby Manning
It’s Pritchard. That run of 20-point scoring nights to begin the year carried the team through slow starts. The Sixth Man case emerged early and carried throughout the year. He drew ovations from the crowd every time he entered the game in arenas all over the league, with fans following them around the country like the Warriors fans used to, another fun story. With his sharpened skills and larger impact on the team, we also heard a more deliberate leader, more willing to speak his mind and express himself publicly. We all remember the 2023 trade request and his diminished role from 2021-23. Pritchard even reminded The Athletic that his role lessened into the 2024 Finals, despite his famous pair of heaves, which provided more motivation for this summer. I loved learning about the summer runs where he hires overseas pros to defend him, his offseason decision to quit drinking and all the opponents, headlined by Doc Rivers, who have raved about how dangerous he is. It’s the story of this Celtics season in a year where so much has remained the same.
Nirav Barman
I’m not sure if it counts as a “storyline,” but one of my favorite things about this season has been seeing Jayson Tatum’s ability to handle criticism. He’s never had any issues online or with the media, and he’s always shown his confidence in his ability, but this year it feels like he’s silently, and even a little not-so-silently pushing back. He’s a top-5 player in the world – top-3 if you ask me. He knows it just as well, and he’s been showing it on the court, while still continuing to be his normal, non-chalant self. He’s taken the time to address a few comments here and there too, but for the most part, he’s let his game do the talking.
Mike Dynon
My favorite topic has been the Celtics walking into arenas across the league and dominating the competition, to the point where they can tie the NBA record for most road wins in a season. I wrote about this superpower during their March trip west, in which they won all six games by double figures. If they take their remaining road games (at New York and Orlando on April 8-9), they will equal the 2016 Warriors at 34-7 away from home. And if these Celtics happen to win just one of those last two, they’ll surpass the 1973 Celtics (32-8 as visitors) and set a Boston franchise record.
The current Celtics have had road winning streaks of eight games twice and seven games once. Their home net rating of plus 7.6 is good, but their road net rating of plus 10.4 is better. And 20 of their road wins have been by more than 10 points. This effectiveness away from home has been the key to their success all season, because through games of April 2, the Celtics had a far better record away (32-7) than at home (24-13). Truly, a rare situation in the NBA.
Rich Jensen
This one’s a bit sentimental…
My dad and I followed Baylor Scheierman’s career at South Dakota State, and when the Celtics drafted him last June, it was a bittersweet moment for me. My dad had passed away the February before and missed his chance to see Baylor’s adjustment to the NBA game and his evolution to a key reserve role with more possibilities to come.
Robby Fletcher
I would not generally consider myself a toxic fan or writer, but there’s something deeply entertaining about the goal posts being constantly pushed back by media members and fans outside of Boston. We saw it all season long a year ago, up until the Finals. You’d think a title against the so-called “favorites” in Dallas would dispel a lot of those narratives, but oh boy, did we get a real treat after the ring ceremony.
After shooting 61 threes in a blowout win over the new-look Knicks, the latest online discourse sought to attack the 3-pointer itself, with talks of rule changes and “boring basketball” placing Boston at the epicenter. You just have to laugh. The people that have seen the team’s process, style and success know it goes well beyond a lazy narrative, and so far, it’s generated one championship. Imagine what happens if it generates two.
Jeff Clark
I might have to write about this more at length, but for me I’m just struck by how downright likeable this team is. From Tatum’s easygoing superstar swag, to the Cookies ‘n Cream buddy comedy of Jaylen and Porzingis, to Luke Kornet’s dad humor, and down to the tandem of Horford and Holiday (the Starsky and Hutch of role models). It seems kind of obvious or cliche to say it, but I really just love this team.
