It goes without saying – expectations for the Celtics are sky-high this season. After acquiring Jrue Holiday on Sunday, Boston is now tied with Milwaukee as the betting favorite to win the NBA Finals (+380).
It’s championship or bust for the Celtics this season – Brad Stevens and the ownership have gone all in, leaving no excuses for the team if they come up short.
Players and coaches are well aware of this expectation.
“We’ve got a really good team, we’ve got really good players,” Jayson Tatum said on Monday. “People expect us to get to the championship and win, and if we don’t, we didn’t necessarily meet expectations. There are a handful of teams each year that could realistically win a championship, and we’re in that mix.”
“To me, the expectations should be there,” head coach Joe Mazzulla said.
Managing the high expectations is something the Celtics will have to deal with all season long, and it’s a task they are not shying away from.
“We all understand what our goal is,” Kristaps Porzingis said following the team’s first training camp session. “But we don’t only want to have that in our mind. As coach (Mazzulla) said yesterday in the first meeting, we have to live that lifestyle. We have to live that life day-to-day.”
It all starts with the daily focus and work. Something the Celtics have got early on in training camp. Brad Stevens mentioned Monday that the gym has been “packed” over the last few weeks, and when appearing on JJ Redick’s “Old Man and the Three” podcast, Mazzulla mentioned this has been the best preseason in terms of buy-in from top players since he arrived in Boston in 2019.
Players up and down the Celtics’ roster know how special this season could be. "We should all feel like we need to do a little bit more because we didn't win,” said Tatum. “Whatever we have done in the past is great, but it hasn't been enough."
The Celtics have been put in perfect position to raise banner 18, it’s now up to them to finish the job.
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