The quality wins are starting to stack up for the Celtics.
In the span of seven days, Boston snapped the Pistons’ 13-game win streak, went into Cleveland and beat a Cavaliers team that owned the second-most home wins in the Eastern Conference at the time, and then overcame the Knicks on Tuesday night — a New York squad that came in riding a four-game winning streak and had outscored opponents by a combined 72 points, the best margin in the league over that stretch.
Add in the win over Orlando the previous Sunday, and the Celtics now have four victories over teams currently sitting in the top six of the Eastern Conference in their last five games.
But zoom out a little further.
Over their last 15 games, the Celtics are 9–6. They are 7–3 in their last 10 and 4–1 in their last five. At the quarter mark of the season, they sit at 12–9 — just 1.5 games behind Cleveland for the sixth seed in the East, two games back of Miami for the third seed, and only 2.5 games back of the No. 2 spot, currently held by Toronto.
They’ve proven they can compete with just about anybody. Their seven wins against teams with a .500 or better record are tied for the second-most in the NBA, alongside Orlando (one of the preseason favorites to win the East), the 14–6 Denver Nuggets, and the reigning champion Oklahoma City Thunder, who are 21–1 this season. They trail only the East-leading 17–4 Pistons, who have eight wins over teams with a .500 or better record.
Led by Jaylen Brown, who is averaging 29.0 points (49.9% FG), 6.0 rebounds, and 4.8 assists — a stat line only matched by Giannis Antetokounmpo, Luka Doncic, and Nikola Jokic — the Celtics’ offense ranks fourth in the NBA, even as players work through some growing pains adjusting to new roles. Their net rating of 4.4 ranks 11th in the league and sixth in the Eastern Conference. Defensively, they allow just 111.2 points per game, the third-fewest in the NBA behind only the Thunder and Rockets.
They’re a good team. And much of that is a credit to the culture Joe Mazzulla has established, and the players are embracing. They are living by the principles Mazzulla wants his team defined by: humility, mindset, togetherness, toughness, passion, compete. Six traits that hang on a banner between the championship banners above the court at the practice facility — a daily reminder of the standard the Celtics strive to uphold.
There have certainly been bumps along the road — home losses to Utah and Brooklyn, for example — but for the most part, there has been no slack from this team. They have brought it every night, playing the scrappy, determined basketball needed to outperform expectations. In the process, they’ve seen positive development from players they'd hoped to grow.
And that depth Mazzulla envisioned as the Celtics’ potential superpower has come to fruition, with different contributors stepping up and making an impact every night.
“That’s what you have to build. You have to have an understanding that we need all of you guys to win. At any point in time, you can have an impact on winning,” Mazzulla said. “That just kind of gives you a shared ownership, and it gives you a mindset that you have to have.”
You don’t get a parade for early-season performance. But relative to expectations, you have to be pleased with what the Celtics have provided this season. Potential future pieces are showing flashes, players are stepping up in their roles, and the team is better than many folks would’ve expected at this point. And Mazzulla deserves a lot of credit for that.
“It’s easy to focus on what you see now, but if you go back to preseason and before the season, we’re in a much different space now. You can see the difference,” Brown said. “It’s only been 20 games, and there has been a huge amount of growth from a lot of guys. Neemi, Jordan, Josh, Baylor, Payton. We’re continuing to take it one step at a time. The best is yet to come. We’ve still got a lot of work to do.”
They may not be perfect, and the season is far from over. But if the first quarter of the season is any indication, this team has the talent, depth, and culture to exceed expectations.
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