The NBA’s 82-game regular season is often called a marathon. Teams have to pace themselves in order to stay fresh, avoid injury, and not succumb to the highs and lows of wins and losses. But what if every mile is a 100-meter sprint? At least that’s how fast everybody else is running it at on that particular night when the Celtics are in town. What if every night is the opposing team’s Super Bowl against the defending champs? What if everybody else uses you as the measuring stick? Beat Boston and maybe, “yeah, we’re ready to contend for a Larry O’Brien trophy.”
On a night when the Celtics came into Detroit on a six-game winning streak with the Pistons on a seven-game run of their own, a 117-97 blowout loss humbled the 2024 NBA champions, but that’s been par for the course all year.
“I thought it was great,” head coach Joe Mazzulla said of getting every team’s best shot every night. “I don’t think it necessarily takes a toll. I think it presents an opportunity… It’s not as much of a toll as it is a responsibility. It’s a compliment. You have to be a to execute on that, you’ve got to deliver on that all the time.”
After winning in Toronto the night before and missing Jaylen Brown (thigh contusion) and Luke Kornet (personal reasons), last night was not one of those times. Even a hot shooting night from behind the arc (21-of-49) couldn’t overcome 17 sloppy turnovers that turned into 24 points and a 62-20 margin in the paint.
That’s not to take away from the Pistons. That was not the team that the Celtics had beat three times already this season, including a 24-point drubbing at TD Garden in December. They’re nasty defensively and with young studs like Cade Cunningham and Jalen Duren coming in to bloom, Detroit isn’t just a team that Boston should worry about in the regular season, but a formidable foe come playoff time and definitely in the years to come.
But that’s also the life of a defending champ and one that the Celtics fully embrace.
“Over recent years, we’ve gotten everybody’s really good shot. Now, on a nightly basis, we get everybody’s best shot. We’re the standard,” Jayson Tatum said after scoring 27 points in the losing effort. “Any champion in NBA history, the next year, they are the standard. Guys are trying to get what they have. There’s a lot of responsibility with that.”
Kristaps Porzingis when asked about the differences between last season and this one for the Celtics:
“We have to hunt again. We want to win another championship and we have to be hunting again. But the season is long. We’re working towards something. We want to peak at the… pic.twitter.com/zknYQdC0Al
— Bobby Krivitsky (@BobbyKrivitsky) February 27, 2025
The Celtics now return to Boston for a seven-game homestand where they’ll host a murderer’s row of teams that want to knock them off their pedestal. On Friday, the Cavaliers come into town looking to even their season series. The Nuggets, Lakers, and Thunder visit the parquet from out west, too. With 20+ games remaining, the league is ready for their weigh-in.
So, how do you react as the hunted?
“We have to hunt again. We want to win another championship and we have to be hunting again,” Kristaps Porzingis said. “The season is long. We’re working towards something. We want to peak at the right moment.”
