The Celtics entered the playoffs as heavy favorites to win it all again, but a soul-crushing loss to the Knicks in the second round put an end to their run. This disappointing season leads to a lot of questions about the future of the Celtics.
The Celtics lost to the Knicks in a 4-2 series on Friday, May 16th. As fans mourned the idea of a 2024-2025 championship, many were also mourning the loss of star player Jayson Tatum. At the end of game 4 of the series, he suffered a right Achilles tendon rupture, shocking viewers all over the country. One of the most eye opening stats during this series was the Celtics’ 3-point percentage, shooting 25% in the first two games, when they had made the most number of 3s in NBA history during the regular season (Sports hub). Even during this drought, they decided to shoot an average of 45 threes in the last four games, while the Knicks averaged 30.
Why did everyone have such high expectations for the Celtics? Starting off the season, they had just come off a hard-fought championship and returned with their core players. Their starters are arguably the most talented starting 5 in the entire league, being led by Tatum and Brown. Once the season started, their championship dream train didn’t stop rolling. They made franchise history going 33-8 on the road (Nba.com), broke the NBA record for most 3s in a season with 1,457 (NBC boston), and joined the 60 wins in a consecutive season club. They had both a top 5 offense and top 5 defense (nba.com), as well as 6th man of the year, Payton Pritchard, and the perfect amount of youth and energy to offset the veterans on the team. But this season was not all fun and games; there were major hurdles from the beginning.
Kristaps Porziņģis missed the first half of the season due to his recovery with a torn medial retinaculum and a dislocated posterior tibialis tendon, only returning in February, and was limited during the playoff due to an illness. Holiday also missed a good amount of games with a hamstring strain. The Celtics relied heavily on their threes; many of the games they lost were the games where they were having a bad shooting night. Even their bigs: Horford and Porzingis, were strong 3 point shooters, which made the Celtics offense unpredictable. A big issue for the Celtics as seen in their last couple games was their inability to stick to a lead, especially in the third quarter. In both game one and game two of the Knicks series, the Celtics held a 20 point lead going into the half which disappeared as the 4th quarter rolled around.
Will the Celtics come back the same next season? It is predicted that some players are going to need to be let go in order for the Celtics payroll not to exceed its budget by too much. Right now, they are projected to pay $500 million for their payroll next season (Front Office Sports), which is the highest single season payroll in NBA history. To combat this, the Celtics will probably need to part ways with one of their key players. Their starting five together are owed $198.5 million next year, which is about $44 million more than the projected salary cap. Al Horford is a free agent this summer and also turns 39. Is it time to replace him and maybe one other player with some younger talent? If the Celtics want to be a franchise team, they need to stack their roster with players who have futures in Boston. As people are debating whether or not to lose some key players, others are wondering if Joe Mazzula is still the right fit as coach. Mazzula is a firm believer in padding stats and following trends, not necessarily playing in the moment. Is that working for this team? Or do Brad Stevens, William Chisolm, and Wyc Grousbeck need to look at other options.
With all this being said, the Celtics are still going to stay a force to be reckoned with. If we can stay consistent all throughout the regular season and playoffs, try to stay as healthy as possible, and focus on the win instead of how many 3s we can shoot, there is a very good chance we will see the Celtics in the Eastern Conference Finals next year
