Boston Celtics Win Their Eighth Straight Game
Last season the Boston Celtics finished the regular season second overall in the Eastern Conference with a record of 57-25. They went on to go to the playoffs and defeated point guard Trae Young and the Atlanta Hawks in the first round, center Joel Embiid and the Philadelphia 76ers in the Conference Semifinals but lost to small forward Jimmy Butler and the Miami Heat in the Eastern Conference Finals in seven games. Why did the Boston Celtics, a team who statistically speaking was the second-best team in the NBA last year, lose to the Miami Heat who were a play-in team? The simple answer to that question is that the Celtics were good, but not great. That fact is why going into this NBA season the Celtics did everything in their power to change themselves from good to great.
If you are a Celtics fan you know that the Celtics are tied with the Los Angeles Lakers with 17 NBA Championships for the most rings of any franchise in the NBA. However, if you have become a Celtics fan in the last decade you have not gotten to witness any of those 17 NBA Championships as they have not won one since 2008. The Boston Celtics have made it to the Eastern Conference Finals in five of the last seven seasons but have only been successful in winning the Eastern Conference Finals one of those five times. That one time was in 2022 when they made it to the NBA Finals and faced point guard Stephen Curry and the Golden State Warriors where they lost in seven games. When you look at how good the Celtics have been the past few years it is insane to think they have not won an NBA Championship. That is why their focus this past offseason was all on the fact that they were tired of losing and that they were going to do everything in their power to build an NBA Championship-level roster.
To do this the Boston Celtics parted ways with long-time Celtics point guard Marcus Smart, trading him in a three-team deal where the Memphis Grizzlies received Smart, the Celtics received center Kristaps Porzingis, a 2023-first round pick, and a top four protected 2024 first-round pick, meanwhile the Washington Wizards received point guard Tyus Jones, power forward Danilo Gallinari, center Mike Muscula, and a 2023 second-round pick. Shortly over two months after this trade went through the Celtics were part of another trade that sent point guard Jrue Holiday to Boston in exchange for point guard Malcolm Brogdon, center Robert Williams III, and two future first-round picks. These trades brought Boston two new starters in Holiday and Porzinigis and while there was some skepticism at first as to how good the new Celtics would be, now that we are almost in March of the 2023-2024 NBA season, we can indeed say Boston is quite good.
The Celtics are currently sitting at the very top of the Eastern Conference standings with a record of 45-12 which is not only the best record in the Eastern Conference, but the best record by any team in the whole NBA. They have won eight straight games and are 9-1 in their last ten contests. Most recently they took on point guard Jalen Brunson and the New York Knicks, defeating them 116-102 in Madison Square Garden. The Knicks have been playing quite well lately but they were no match for Boston in this one. Shooting guard Jaylen Brown led the way for the Celtics with 30 points, meanwhile, Porzingis had 22, and small forward Jayson Tatum had 19. While Brunson gave this one his all finishing with 34 points and 9 assists leading the way for the Knicks it was not enough to get a win and outplay the deep roster that travels with the Celtics. With every win the Celtics add to their record this season it makes one wonder: Can the Boston Celtics be the 2024 NBA Champions? Is the 16-year hiatus from a basketball championship in Boston coming to a close?
