In Boston, the one constant through all the months has been the Celtics

New York Times

16-04-2025

BRIGHTON, Mass. — Hold on to your caution flags until the fifth paragraph, OK? Here goes: If their 2024-25 regular season is any indication, the Boston Celtics have an excellent chance to repeat as NBA champions.
The Celtics went 61-21, which includes a 19-3 record in March-April.
During that stretch, they went on the road and won six straight games — at Utah, at Portland, at Sacramento, at Phoenix, at San Antonio, at Memphis — while the World Figure Skating Championships were taking place at TD Garden. The Celtics no doubt travel in grand fashion — unlike the Patriots and their dumpy, F-graded plane per a report from the NFL Players Association — but six victories in 11 days in all those far-flung places is not to be taken lightly.
Advertisement
As for Jaylen Brown and his bruisy right knee, he was a full participant at Tuesday's practice session at the Auerbach Center. The betting here is that he'll also be fully participatory when the Celtics host the Orlando Magic in Game 1 of the Eastern Conference quarterfinals Sunday at TD Garden.
What does all this mean? Nothing.
That I bring it up at all is to remain faithful to a sort of annual tradition of mine, which is to roll out what the late, great Tommy Heinsohn always said whenever anybody dared to dredge up a game, a stat or an anecdote from the regular season and apply it to the postseason. 'It's not the same,' Heinsohn would say, the words accompanied by an eye gaze that could melt steel.
But — and, again, Tommy would bestow no points for this — the Celtics delivered a measure of focus during the regular season that I believe can be applied to the postseason. It's not just the 61-21 record. Heck, the 2007 Patriots went 16-0 in the regular season and then lost to the New York Giants in Super Bowl XLII. (For those offended by the cross-pollination of sports here, neither the Bird-McHale-Parish Celtics of the 1980s nor the Havlicek-Cowens Celtics of the 1970s won two championships in a row.)
This is less about records and more about mindset. Jayson Tatum put it perfectly the other day. 'Defend the title? No. Not defend it,' Tatum said, as reported by The Athletic's Jay King. 'Can't nobody take away what we did last year. We the champs for 2024. This is a new season, a new year. We're trying to win another championship.'
A companion quote was provided by Celtics coach Joe Mazzulla, who, also according to King, has left little signs at each player's dressing stall that read: 'You're only a success at the moment you perform a successful act. You have to do it again.'
Tommy Heinsohn would have loved that.
You locked in? We locked in. pic.twitter.com/LdalClTHL8
— Boston Celtics (@celtics) April 15, 2025
But before moving on from the 2024-25 regular season, which Mazzulla is clearly doing, one small observation. Perhaps it's just the company I keep, or maybe it's from listening to the wrong talk shows at the wrong time of day, but too often over the past couple of months, I heard variations of: 'I just want to get the regular season over with and start the playoffs.'
Advertisement
Such a sentiment was never on display this season at the Garden, where the Celtics always deliver a fan experience that can be heard as far away as Woonsocket, R.I. But the let's-start-the-playoffs thing rattled around just often enough to be irritating.
'For me, you learn how to appreciate and embrace the journey,' Al Horford said after Tuesday's practice session. 'The day-to-day (of the regular season) was great. Coming in, trying to get better, continuing to work on different things, and to put ourselves in this position. Win (61) games, get a good seed — and now that this is here, now I can kind of put my eyes on it and take it a step at a time.
'You never want to look too far ahead and worry about things that are not here yet,' Horford said. 'Nothing is guaranteed. Today was a good start for us. We had a good practice, and we have to continue to build on that as the week goes on.'
If you'll pardon the repurposing of a great line from 'Field of Dreams,' here's another way to applaud the Celtics' stellar regular season without making any presumptions about the postseason: In Boston, the one constant through all the months has been the Celtics.
The Patriots are in a rebuild. The Bruins are at the front door to a rebuild. The Red Sox have presumably undergone a rebuild, but April would like to have a word.
Free, daily sports updates direct to your inbox.
Free, daily sports updates direct to your inbox.
On May 27, 2023, the Celtics were blown out of Game 7 of the Eastern Conference finals by the Miami Heat. Practically from the next morning on, they've been a spectacularly-run franchise in every possible way.
True, all bets are off if the playoffs don't lead to one of those fancy duck boat parades through the Back Bay. That's all later on. This is today, and the Red Sox, Bruins and Patriots have their noses pressed up against the glass, watching the Celtics do their thing.