The Celtics’ long road to the NBA Finals and the longer road that lies ahead

Each of the Boston Celtics’ last two playoff exits were met with action. Some of the action was self-induced, and some was out of their control.

In 2022, their loss to the Golden State Warriors was a learning experience. They beefed up the roster with the Malcolm Brogdon trade and were ready to build on it. But just as training camp was getting set to begin, they were forced to pivot. Ime Udoka was suspended indefinitely and eventually let go.

Despite that, the guys in green still found themselves in the Eastern Conference finals in May. Yet one 0-3 series deficit and a Derrick White save attempt later, the Celtics were back in the same position—seeking change.

First, it came in the form of a 7-foot-2 Latvian big man. Boston shocked the NBA world, trading beloved guard Marcus Smart for Kristaps Porzingis. And later that summer, they were gifted the opportunity to pull off another blockbuster.

The Milwaukee Bucks wanted Damian Lillard, and Jrue Holiday was the price. Within days, the Celtics swooped in, snagging Holiday from the Portland Trail Blazers and creating a disaster scenario for a Bucks team that eventually got bounced in Round 1 of the 2024 NBA Playoffs.

“Got to pay a good price for things,” Brad Stevens said of the Holiday trade back in October. “That’s the way it goes. We’re trying to win a championship.”

Fast forward eight months later, and that quest Stevens detailed is nearing its tipping point.

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On Tuesday night, the Celtics took down the Indiana Pacers in Game 4 of the Eastern Conference finals, completing the sweep and punching their ticket to the NBA Finals—their second trip in three years.

The triumph is a testament to the growth they’ve achieved over the past few years.

But paired with that growth has been the aforementioned change. Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown have remained the franchise’s pillars, but around them has been a whirlwind of moving pieces, gone widely undiscussed by the general public.

“We feel like we’re a different team than we were last year and the year before that,” Brown said after taking down the Pacers in Game 4. “I know everybody wants to continue to kind of pigeonhole us to what’s happened in the past, but we’ve had a different team every single year. Different coaches.

“We’ve had like three coaches in the last five years, and still, people want to just make it seem like it’s the same, it’s the same, it’s the same. Time has gone by, experience has been gained, and I think we are ready to put our best foot forward.”

Every season is its own journey and must be treated as such. Narratives and criticism may have the benefit of carrying over from year to year, but for the Celtics, that’s a luxury they couldn’t afford.

From the start of training camp, things were different in Boston.

Joe Mazzulla sent out a mass email to former Celtics players, inviting them back to be around the team for training camp. From Paul Pierce to Rajon Rondo, Quinn Buckner to Satch Sanders, legends flooded the Auerbach Center for weeks.

“I sent an email out to all the Celtic former players because I felt like it’s important that we share in this experience together,” Mazzulla said. “They started the tradition, they kept it going, and now it’s our responsibility as an organization to keep it alive.”

For all the success the Celtics have had, it doesn’t compare to the many peaks in the organization’s history. Mazzulla wanted to bridge that gap.

“When you don’t see them all the time, you don’t get that connection to the past,” Mazzulla explained. “And the only past we have is the banners alone. The past should be the banners, but it should be the people. So I thought it was extremely important that any and every Celtic is welcome to a practice or a game so we can build that brotherhood of what we are.”

Pierce led the Celtics a 17th banner in 2008. Over 15 years later, with heaps of promise sandwiched in between, Boston is four wins away from 18.

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While the road to 18 this year began with Pierce chopping it up with Tatum and Sam Cassell during training camp, the internal process was largely mental. And almost counterintuitively, it involved putting championship dreams on the back burner.

“We all understand what our goal is, but we don’t want to only have that in our minds,” Porzingis said during training camp. “As coach said yesterday in the first meeting, we have to live that lifestyle. We have to live that life day-to-day. We have to put in the work, and then, in the end, if we put in the work, we will achieve the results. But it has to be like a daily focus.”

Thus began the Celtics’ methodical, strategical, almost boring march through the regular season. By the end of it, they had accumulated a 64-18 record. Externally, every victory brought relief, and each loss, a brief sense of panic. But internally, Boston was steadfast.

Led by Mazzulla’s unwavering mental approach, the Celtics refused to react.

Losses were met with acceptance, learning, and dismissal.

“The next game,” Jrue Holiday said when asked about the best way to recover from a blowout loss after Boston’s January 12 loss to Milwaukee.

Wins were met by a mind-numbing progression.

“We show up here, and we play the game,” Mazzulla said after the Celtics’ 52-point win over the Golden State Warriors. “It’s the most important thing that we have to do, is play the game. And when the game’s over, nobody cares.”

It’s that very refusal to accept success that kept the Celtics rolling.

“If we’re just going to sit back and be happy after every win, then that’s an unhealthy relationship with success, and it’s going to come back to bite us in the a**,” Mazzulla said after the Celtics’ January 13 win over the Houston Rockets. “The healthiest relationship to have with success is to understand that you can still get better, and so I think that’s the space that we have to live in.”

And the process only amplified in the postseason.

“Playoffs are like an emotional roller coaster,” Tatum said after clinching a spot in the 2024 NBA Finals. “Trying to find a balance in between the wins and the losses, trying to stay even-keeled throughout however long you’re playing is important. The team that does that the best usually has a lot of success.”

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As the Celtics dodged arrogance and hugged the line of consistency, they slowly collected every droplet of information that came their way. No stone was left unturned. No situation was left unstudied. No lead, deficit, or crunch-time scenario was left unevaluated.

Rather than balking in the face of adversity and basking in glory, Mazzulla’s Celtics did the opposite.

“I just hope [a game like that] happens 10, 12 more times so we can get rid of the entitlement that we’re always supposed to be winning,” Mazzulla said after overcoming a 17-point deficit against the New Orleans Pelicans. “So, I hope we have to blow leads. I hope all that happens. I really do. So, that’s what I think. I think it’s just like, at times, we’re just supposed to be winning all the time. And that’s just not the case. So, we have to stay the course. That’s the key.”

In the Eastern Conference finals, this approach paid dividends. Down three with 10 seconds left in Game 1, Brown nailed a big-time shot, and the Celtics won in overtime. Down eight with 2:38 left in Game 3, Holiday took over to seal an 18-point comeback. Down four with 3:33 left in Game 4, Boston closed the game on a 7-0 run to clinch a Finals berth.

For all the weird looks Mazzulla got for “wanting” to blow more leads and play from behind, the experience spoke for itself.

“I think Joe’s pretty good at, I wouldn’t say, predicting situations, but kind of putting us in awkward situations or situations that are very, very possible,” Holiday said after Boston’s Game 4 win over Indiana. “We know that we’re a pretty good team and were a pretty good team in the regular season, but the playoffs are a different beast, and again, the last two games, we were down eight with two minutes left, and I think to be able to manage the game, having Derrick White out there [to] manage the game, and then JT and JB kind of take over, it’s exactly what Joe was talking about.

“I think we have the mindset and the character for it, and we just went out there and showed it.”

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Now, with three clutch victories under their belts, the Celtics are heading to the Finals. They climbed the mountain in 2022 but ran out of oxygen just before the summit. This time around, they’ve managed the tanks.

“It was a lot for our group,” Al Horford said of the 2022 run. “It was very overwhelming. And, you know, I felt like we were trying to catch on the whole time there. And now, we’ve put ourselves in a position in the regular season to have home-court advantage, to be in this position.

“And with these series, we’re taking advantage of the opportunities and playing them out the right way. So I feel like we’re more mature, obviously, and we’re in a better place.”

When Boston reached the Finals in 2022, there was a celebration. For years, they failed to get over the hump. Conference finals after conference finals, the Celtics fell just short. Losses to LeBron James and Jimmy Butler alike thwarted them just as they were on the cusp of the next step. And with Butler’s missed transition three, they finally did it.

But then they took a breath.

The elation of overcoming their biggest hurdle to date blinded them. The ultimate goal was an arm’s length away, but the Celtics just couldn’t reach quite far enough.

A quick 2-1 series lead over the Warriors was quickly met with the dominance of Stephen Curry. Three after three, Curry brought the City of Boston to its knees, ending the Celtics’ season on the TD Garden parquet. For all the effort Boston put in to get to that point, they still fell short.

This year is different.

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The excitement is still there, but it’s taken on a new form. It’s no longer relief. It’s appreciation.

“I think winning’s hard, especially in this capacity, and in this series, it feels good to be able to get the win and then move on to the Finals,” Holiday said.

“Not too many people get a chance to be in the Eastern Conference finals, and I know it can be a lot of pressure and a lot of build-up, but this is what we play for,” Brown said. “This is what the game is about. So, just really blessed to be here, really grateful. And I was excited that I was in the Eastern Conference finals and get to go back to the Finals.”

“Even though we’ve been there before, most of us have, you don’t take it for granted,” said Tatum. “It’s a hell of a team we just played. They made us earn every single game. We’re extremely grateful to move onto the Finals.”

Despite the Celtics’ constant push-back against relishing in victory, they still appreciate what they accomplish. There’s a genuine understanding of how rare their accomplishments are and a constant effort to not take them for granted.

The playoffs are a special place. Getting to the conference finals is quite the feat. This is Holiday’s 15th year in the league and only his second appearance. Getting to the Finals is even harder. But the Celtics are back.

For the past few years, Boston’s inability to finish the job has earned them a spot in the ring of uncertainty. Fans sit in the TD Garden crowd, wincing at every 6-0 run an opposing team goes on. National media outlets debate whether or not victories are good enough, instead choosing to pick apart the way in which the Celtics won.

It’s a largely unfair perspective and one that can only be remedied by a championship. “Starving. Starving,” Horford said when asked how hungry he is for a title. “We ready for it. We can’t wait.”

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On the brink of history, the Celtics will rely on the past to propel them into the future. Injuries have plagued their playoff opponents, but that’s not in their control. Boston has played the teams in front of them, taken care of business, and paraded their way through the Eastern Conference.

Twelve wins down, four to go. But each of the final four will be more painstaking than the first 12 combined. Every possession, a chess match. Every ticking second, a chance to gain an edge. It’s not wholly uncharted territory for this team, but it’s unlike the rest of the playoffs for one reason—they haven’t succeeded in this spot before.

An entire season of mental and on-court preparation has them ready for this moment. Now, all that’s left to do is finish the story.

“We’re going to lock in, and we’re going to do whatever it takes to get four more wins,” said White.