Last season didn’t end too well for the Boston Celtics as they lost in Game Seven of the Eastern Conference Finals to the Miami Heat. The Boston Celtics postseason had fans on their heels the entire time, starting when Trae Young made a game-winning shot in Game Five of the Quarterfinals before the Celtics won that series 4-2. James Harden did the same exact thing in Game One of the Semifinals, but down 3-2 for the second year in a row in the East Semis, the Celtics went on the road to win Game Six, after a struggling Tatum showed up in the 4th quarter. The Celtics then won Game Seven behind Tatum's 51 points to make it to the Eastern Conference Finals against the Heat, a familiar spot.
A year earlier they won a crazy series in Miami 4-3 to make it to the finals and were looking to do the same here in 2023. The Celtics started 0-3, and no team has come back from that deficit, but “don’t let us get one” happened. Winning Game Four in Miami seemed like the hardest part, and fans in the Garden for Game Five seemed happy just to be there. They exploded in the first quarter when Marcus Smart made two back to back-to-back threes, leading to a Miami timeout. Afterwards, Jayson Tatum knocked down a three on a wild play starting with a crazy pass from Tatum to Horford, who looked like he was going to shoot, kicked it out to Derrick White, and then Marcus Smart had to put up a wild shot. Al Horford got the rebound and missed the layup, got his own rebound, and dished it over to Smart, who had a no-look pass to Tatum, who paused as he was wide open and drilled the shot. As someone who was in attendance for that game, that was one of the craziest things I've seen live. Derrick White went 6/8 from land, including a buzzer-beater at the end of the first. The Celtics with all the momentum went down to Miami and had the lead for a good amount of the game. Up 10 in the 4th with 4 minutes to go, it seemed as if nothing could go wrong. The Heat made shots, and Boston fouled Jimmy Butler, who gave the Heat the lead with 3 seconds to go. We all know how it went down after this. Marcus Smart missed a shot, and Derrick White rebounds, and hits a game-winner to force Game Seven in Boston. The fans crowded the streets of Boston, and there was a frenzy. But Tatum got injured on the first play of Game Seven, and that was history. We had a few chances to come back, getting the lead down from 17 to 7, but it wasn’t enough. The Heat lost to Denver 4-1 in the finals, and this season they look like another eight seed once again.
The Celtics immediately got to work in the offseason, and on a wild day on June 23rd, went from getting Kristaps Porzingis and sending Malcolm Brogdon to the Clippers in a three-team deal, that ended up in the trade not getting done. Then, at 11 p.m. that night, it got started back up again. The Clippers were worried about the health of Brogdon, who was injured during the ECF, and backed out of a deal. Somehow, by midnight, the deal got done, and Marcus Smart was a Memphis Grizzly, while the Celtics sent Danillo Gallinari to the Wizards, along with Mike Muscala, and the deal was done. Porzingis got signed by the Celtics to a two-year deal with 60 million dollars. He averaged 23 and eight last season and can make shots from range, having good games against the Celtics in 2022-2023 with the Wizards. Now on a contending team, will he get his first title? The 28-year-old from Latvia is 7'3, 240lbs.
The Celtics signed Jaylen Brown, who got 26.6 points per game in 2022-2023 to an extension of five years worth 303.7 million on July 25th which was an NBA record. They also got Jrue Holiday from the Trail Blazers, who won a title with the Bucks in 2021. He replaces Marcus Smart essentially, on defense, and is one of the most underrated players in the league. Brogdon and Robert Williams went to the Trail Blazers in the trade. Despite all this, the Celtics have lost four of their last five appearances in the ECF, and the one win ended in a finals loss (2017, 2018, 2020 bubble, 2022 finals, 2023 ECF).
The Celtics signed some other players during the offseason and lost Grant Williams to free agency. Dalano Banton came over from the Raptors, a 6'7 point guard entering his third year in the league. Oshae Brissett comes over from the Pacers and is also 6-7. Sam Hauser is entering his third year with the Celtics and looking to up the three-point percentage and may be in the seventh or eighth spot this season behind Horford/White/Pritchard. The Celtics got Svi Mykhailiuk who came over from the Hornets and shot the ball well during preseason, as he hopes he can do the same during the regular season. The Celtics signed Neemis Queta to a two-way deal. The 24-year-old seven-footer looks to replace Robert Williams, as he showed off in the final game of the regular season. He got 12 points against Charlotte and didn’t miss a shot while pulling down seven rebounds in 13 minutes of playing time. He also got 10 points, three rebounds, and, two assists against Philadelphia and didn’t miss a shot. Luke Kornet is another big man that the Celtics have held on to, but his versatility concerns the team, as they are already lacking at the big spot, with Horford being 37 years old. Hopefully, Queta can take some relief off of Porzingis and Horford, and maybe be the replacement of Robert Williams that this team is looking for. The Celtics also got Lamar Stevens from the Cavaliers, who looks to add to what is already a great defense. His shooting has needed some work, so hopefully he can improve on that this season. In the draft the Celtics got Jordan Walsh and were high on him in summer league, already getting signed to a deal. Coming from Arkansas in the second-round pick 38, the team is looking to add him as wing depth.
Lastly, in the impressive offseason from 4th year 6’1 PG Payton Pritchard, who will get a bigger role this season. Pritchard led the team in scoring in a few preseason games, getting 26 and 21 in the first two respectively, and 17 in the third. He signed a four-year, 120-million-dollar deal, so you know the Celtics are serious about him, and will most likely have him as the 7th or 8th in the lineup. Everyone has been concerned about the Celtics depth, but with a bench like Pritchard, Hauser, Horford, or D-White, and everyone else the Celtics signed, they should be okay. Don't forget our starting five features the Tatum and Brown duo, with Holiday, White, and KP. Yeah, that sounds good. It has been stated that in order to get that title, the team needed to change a little bit, and it did. New players, new faces, and if you’re a Boston Celtics fan, get excited.
It all starts Wednesday, October 25th, at 7:30 p.m. at Madison Square Garden in New York City. Who remembers the last time the Celtics started the season at MSG, oh yeah, double overtime (loss, but that’s not the point, a thriller. They also made the finals that year. I see a trend).
With everybody sayin’ Bleed Green, YEAH, let us know your thoughts, and enjoy Boston Celtics basketball!!
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