Shortly after the Boston Celtics defeated the Orlando Magic in Game 1 of their first-round playoff series, the NBA released the finalists for the 2024-25 regular season awards.
The Celtics seem light on representation for a 61-win team with Payton Pritchard being the sole finalist for Boston. Payton was nominated for the Sixth Man of the Year award, and is widely expected to be the favorite to win it. The other finalists for the award include Ty Jerome of the Cleveland Cavaliers and Malik Beasley of the Detroit Pistons. The last Celtics player to win 6MOTY was Malcolm Brogdon back in the 2022-23 season.
While having Payton as a leading candidate is very well deserved, it feels as though Boston deserved more recognitions.
It was unlikely for Joe Mazzulla to be considered as a candidate for the Coach of the Year award this year. Mark Daigneault, head coach of the Oklahoma City Thunder who finished with 68 wins and the league’s best record, was not a finalist for the award either. That should tell you just how competitive it was this year.
The MVP award was really a two-man race between Nikola Jokic and Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, but Jayson Tatum certainly made a case for himself, leading the Celtics to the third-best overall record in the league. Instead, he will likely finish fourth overall behind Giannis Antetokounmpo.
Tatum could also have been a finalist for Clutch Player of the Year, as could Derrick White have. Both were outstanding in the late stretches of games, with Jayson hitting multiple game-winners this year, and Derrick seemingly making all the right plays leading up to them. At times it felt like White couldn’t miss in 4th quarters, big shot after big shot while playing stellar defense on the other end.
Ultimately, the Celtics probably didn’t play enough clutch minutes to be considered as top candidates for the award. Jalen Brunson, Anthony Edwards, and Nikola Jokic will be the three finalists, each of them playing over 135 total clutch minutes. They also each scored 140+ points in clutch minutes, three of the top four for the season, with Trae Young being the odd-man out.
The individual honors are nice, but in the end, Boston only cares about one thing: Banner 19. The players will all tell you the same thing. With just 15 more wins, they can bring home their 19th championship, and can tack on Eastern Conference and Finals MVP trophies in the process.
