2023-24 Boston Celtics - 64 Wins - NBA's Best Record - Won Eastern Conference by 14 games (largest NBA conference win since 1976) - 11.34 scoring margin, 5m best in NBA history - 15.22 scoring margin at home, 3rd best in NBA history - 1.22 points per possession - best offense in NBA history - 1,351 3's - 2nd most in NBA history - 37 home wins - 3rd in franchise history, most in the NBA in 8 years - Won or tied season-series with 28 of 29 teams (Denver) - NBA's best home record (37-4), fewest road losses (14) and best record in back-to-backs (12-2) - Clinched playoff spot 17 days before any other team - Clinched NBA's best record before 12 teams clinched a playoff spot - Longest losing streak: 2 - More 30-point leads (17) than 10-point deficits (16) - NBA record 17 25-point wins - NBA record 10 30-point wins - 19 20-point wins, 1 20-point loss - Wire-to-wire wins: 10, Wire-to-wire losses: 1 - 1,182 opponent free throws, fewest in NBA history
64-18 in the regular season, 16-2 if they close it out tomorrow giving them a overall record of 80-20. This Boston team has had one of the greatest seasons ever and you’d expect them to be right back here this time next year
Great and well put together team for sure, But… it’s not that easy to do it again back to back, MIL won’t be hurt again next season, Embid and PHI will get better and be HEALTHY, Knicks will get better and be HEALTHY, Miami is Miami so I expect the East to get a lot better, And the West well the West is BRUTAL and will be even more brutal with Memphis back healthy with Ja and draft picks, OKC better with cap space and draft picks, Spurs better with draft picks and cap space, HOU better with draft picks, Next season is gonna be brutal and all the CBA rules have made it difficult to build super teams and dynasties
Barring injuries, I don't see why they wouldn't be back. The whole team is under contact and expected back. They also have a rookie, Jordan Walsh, who everyone is raving about. He's a 6'7 wing three and D player who I hear gives fits to JT and JB in practice.
Eh. They're a great team, but they weren't tested enough this year to make a conclusive claim that they belong among the best teams ever... The Eastern conference had no dominant teams and was completely decimated with key injuries in the Playoffs. No Jimmy in the 1st round, no Jarett Allen and Mitchell got injured in Game 3, Indiana only got to the Final because Giannis was injured and then half the New York squad was injured, and then Haliburton got injured in the ECF... And somewhere in between all that, Embiid was playing injured. Mavs are also wrecked. Luka shouldn't even be playing but they're giving him injections.
They do have a couple problems. The center position is precarious with al horford getting old and kristaps having injury problems. Jrue is also getting older. I love how well pritchard and hauser have played, but a deeper bench would be a good improvement. No doubt they are automatic contenders next year though
@imnotblindbutiloveblindfol8449 would u like to go over the "legitimate problems" that seemingly EVERYONE outside of boston seemed to have against this team before the playoffs? ....
@@kennethxu1789 center thing is an easy fix, especially if the win the oly real problem pointed out is Jrue getting older, and while legitimate, it still hasnt shown as a problem, so whos to say that only Bron can keep his pace this way and Jrue cant? Jrue isnt playing in style that is too taxing on him, he plays cerebrally, and that thing usually doesnt fall off as quick as physical endurance and stmaina does
1:55 exactly. If the Celtics can completely minimize the hero ball and maintain ball and player movement except in end of shot clock situations, they will never lose a game. Rest of the league better tool up.
rest of the league doesnt play hero ball, some do but not everyone they are just silver bullet for this team, just like Minesotta wasnt scary or them but was for Denver, because they have team that seems like tailor made to counter them not saying that Boston doesnt deserve it, they really do, but if some other team came to the finals the story wouldnt be this simple, its just that their lineup fits perfectly to counter Dallas
@@abhishekkerketta2952 Im not saying it would neccessarily matter, Im saying it would be different, Celtics deserve this but they arent as far above the league as you portrayed them out ot be in your original comment, that was my point
Gil made the best case for this series. Jaylen is guarding Luke (Jaylen = one of BOS's best defenders). Luka is guarding Jaylen (Luke = arguably DAL's worst defender). Tatum rotating positions, guarding bigs, etc.
The biggest thing that infuriates me about todays media is the urgency to compare teams to historic dynasties/players while still having their entire careers ahead of them. It is in the range of outcomes that Boston becomes a dynasty, and it’s also in the range of outcomes that they only win it all this year. That’s the beauty of sports, the players/coaches get to write their own history. Regardless of what has happened in the past, just live in the present people!
@@MJ-pk4gh just like you probably thought they wouldn’t win it this year too? The funny thing is that the Celtics main core isn’t even in their prime yet lol . They are more likely to become a dynasty. Don’t have to trust you brother
They wont be a dynasty based on what tho. All this talk about the weak east so they will most likely make it back to the finals multiple times in the next couple years giving themselves a chance. They will also already have a ring with at least 6-7 years of their prime left. They have the most dynasty potential since the warriors if you're being honest
Celtics are the best 2way team in the league. 1-5 can generate offence and are great on defence. No other team even comes close.... This is without Porzingis too, add Porzingis and it's a cheat code !
they might go 16-2 and they were down their cheat code center for like 10 games+ this postseason; Horford, their starting center for most of this run, is like 38 years old
As a Celtic fan, I know how f'in great the team can be... I was just concerned about them being consistent at being great. I think this season is just the beginning. Everyone still has room for improvement, which is mind-blowinig, considering how good these players are already. Go Celtics! I love the guys on this team- they all seem to be stand-up people so it's easy to root for them without shame.
We’re not used to judging teams as teams as a fully functioning, selfless team where the sum is greater than the parts. We’re just used to thinking of star athletes carrying tantrums.
The Celtics have star athletes. They just don't have a brand of esthetically beautiful basketball. That's no knock on them. They're just doing it differently. Also, they've changed coaches multiple times during JT and JB'S ascension. So they've constantly been finding their identity. Yet, they're winning in spite of that, so that's great. But I wouldn't put them next to the Warriors, Spurs, Kobe-Shap Lakers, Bulls, etc
Love this idea. 2014 spurs are no pushovers, they had the luxury of having facilitators other the main pg, that made it easy for their shooters to score
Boston is a well ran franchise man they never panic, They didn’t go trading off their young players from failing multiple times, They hired from within their organization, And as a Lakers fan this is how a great franchise is ran, So at the end of the day F*** YOU BOSTON!! P.S. JJ you ready to take on the pressure of chasing #18 to tie it back up? I believe you can, So if you’re the next Head Coach of this historic franchise, Let’s get to work for #18!!
05:03 The thing is, the Celtics can not be compared to any team in recent memory. The way they are constructed is not like any other championship team. They are just different. Period.
@@kevingeorge7843yeah because they’re the best team, they made it look easy. Nobody in the east, fully healthy, would’ve beaten them. MAYBE they drop a few more games along the way but even then they would’ve steamrolled their way to the finals, where they’re destroying the best team in the west
I agree that everyone in the east being healthy wouldn’t have made a difference besides the Knicks. They are the true unknown of matching up against Boston at full strength. Additionally I’m curious to see how Denver would’ve dealt with Boston as opposed to Dallas.
nick is so stuck up man. he picked mavs in 5 Lol but he goes at JJ. Redick is just smarter at the game of ball and a better spokesman and really just a better version of Nick that’s why he despises jj
Wasn't Steph & Klay plus Draymond & Andre who still added Kevin after winning already fully stacked and loaded! Why is this even a thing?! Don't be acting like y'all got a problem with super teams now when that's how LJ got half of his going to another city. Putting stars and their egos together especially having it work right away is not easy ask LJ. If we give 1 its props we should give all others! Celtics, Heats, Warriors and now Celtics again props to them for etching their mark in history with elite runs to victory!!! I still believe MJ Bulls and possibly TD Spurs there may never be another so special!
It wasn't nothing. Brogdon, marcus smart, and robert Williams are good role players. And they gave a first rounder too. It's up to the other teams to make it work. Blazers are rebuilding and Memphis got a solid veteran guard. Sound like a fair exchange given the previous history.
This reminds me of the bulls when they lost three consecutive years to the pistons in the ecf and then eventually took off in 1991. It’ll be much harder for Boston to create a dynasty in the modern nba, but the parallels are comparable between the 2020s Celtics and the late 80s/early 90s bulls.
J.J., you have it exactly. I thought the same earlier today--there really isn't any team like the C's. No one that really is put together like them, plays that way, etc. So, we don't know what to make of them. Well, if they close this out, and say, win another? We have to reassess what greatness LOOKS like. I already have...others will take longer. About viewing them via past performance. Most people do this with most anything. Why did so many want to break up the Jays a couple years ago? Because it's hard to project improvement. Most of us go with what we know already. About the only time we do imagine better is when a player--say, Ant this year--has some wow-factor, superhuman physical trait that captures people's imaginations (and then we can't crown a new "king" fast enough). Otherwise, we don't really accept a new thing until it happens (like Denver last year). I'm a C's fan, so I'm biased. I already think this is a Top 10 team all-time, but I'm sure many will disagree. What I want? I want the C's to sweep (and that .800 Win pct) and then have to play a resurgent, hungry Denver team in next year's Finals. If they can beat that team and win back-to-back, it will convince 96% of the doubters.
I see what you’re saying. I’m not trying to hate on the Celtics cause I like you guys generally but I think this team and these finals are kind of boring. There’s just something about there being six all stars and none of those being particularly amazing/legendary by themselves. It’s just a really solid basketball team, end of. But we (neutral) fans watch to see stories. Some smart trades by the front office and simply being the better overall team isn’t something I’ll tell my kids about.
@@Adriaantje2008This Celtics style of basketball is beautiful to watch. Solid D, and a modern spread offense that can play any position and shoot. Unselfish and hard working. I'll tell my kids that.
I've been paying attention to the Celtics since they fleeced the Nets in '13, and watching 50 games a year + playoffs since The Bubble season. I'm highly aware that this team is special, and teams like this don't come around too often. I wasn't conscious for Larry Bird, and I only watched the playoffs when I was a kid in 08. This team has made me fall in love with basketball. Now we just gotta figure out how to rig a crazy four-team deal to get Marcus Smart back to be 6th man and go for it again next year...
Celtics got a whole roster of team guys. It wasn't so obvious before but you can see it now. Al Horford and Jaylen Brown's leadership are in complete harmony with Jrue Holliday and Derrick White how they play team ball without needing any coaching to do so. Which helped Jason Tatum add hustle to his all around game. Love seeing Jamal Crawford on the show. One of the great speedsters who could shoot that 3 if you blink on defense. Dallas been getting refs help all season. Luka needs help learning how to NOT PUSH OFF on just about every dribble drive on offense. They got tired of Luka's whining and finally called it. I assume they are ready to call that push off foul by Luka all season in 2025. Maybe even next game.
To me, all time great teams can be judged in one of two ways. 1 - We can look at a season and say each team is unique and thus each season must be judged individually. 2 - We can look at a set of seasons and look at a team with a common core and talk about that. If I use the Spurs examples talked about we are talking about Duncan - Parker, Ginobili, Duncan Spurs across a decade+ and that falls in the second category. This Boston team can only be considered in the first category for the moment, because this will be their first championship. However, their regular season record does not land them in the top 15 best records of all time.
Thank you JJ. You have a great take on the game and understand how great all around this Celtics team is, regardless of predictions and expectations. The Mavs are a hell of a team but clearly outclasses at every position,. Go Cs!
JJ made a great point that I've been saying all along & people have gotten mad at me. Tatum is not a top tier guy & neither is Brown. They are good players but are inconsistent, particularly Tatum has not done well come postseason. This team is just a very great team. Brad Stevens is a great team executive & have always put a great team around those two. They will be the first team to win a chip, without a tier1 caliber player since the Pistons in 2004, unless if you want to say the 2014 Spurs had no tier1 guys because Duncan & them were already old and Kawhi was still young. They both are probably more talented than anyone on those Pistons team though.
Tatum is a volume scorer but still top 3 in the league in +\- his impact is insane despite his shooting deficiencies and he has shown in previous teams he’s capable of being tier 1 player against other guys (KD, Giannis, Jimmy) . Most playoff points under 25, how quickly you clowns forget smfh he’s only gonna get better
I think that's a step too far. Tatum is a first team all NBA player for 3 consecutive years and its pretty obvious that Brown got snubbed this year when you have players like Devin Booker making the cut (Not saying DB isn't great, just that Brown was way better this year). Has Tatum had moments where it looks like he is a bench player? Absolutely. However, he is a leader in stats every year for a reason.
@@LeisureKingLou-jc2re +/- is skewed a bit, it helps a lot if you're on such a great team. You can put the best player in the NBA on the worst team & they'd probably have one of the worst +/- stats. I guess JJ is a clown too, he's literally the one who said it, I'm just agreeing. As he said, Tatum is not on the caliber of Kobe, LeBron, Kawhi, MJ, etch. You'd be called a clown for putting him on that level. Lmao
The other factor when judging the Cs by past performances is that every year the Js have gotten better and so you should be expecting a better version of those guys this year, which happened. It should keep happening for the next few years.
In 2008, when a below .500 Hawks team took the Celtics 7, I remember being deflated because I did not think we would be able to compete against better teams. But considering how we ended up winning the chip, it made me realize that we need to treat each series individually. There is no carry over. That's why I was super annoyed about the 'not-battle-tested' narrative or 'Celtics-will-finally-play-against-a-real-team-and-will-get-smacked.' Matchups and problem solving really matter. The Heat without Jimmy could've taken the Celtics 7 this year and the Cs would still be up 3-0 against the Mavs now. Each series is unique.
The reason people dismiss them is because they haven’t been able to get it done in the playoffs and go all the way prior to this year. If they do that this year, almost certainly will up 3-0, and then get some more championships in the next few years then no one will dismiss them. Just hasn’t happened yet.
I like the comparison to the 14 Spurs. Similarities: no agenda, coming back from earlier disappointment, on court talent level, beautiful team basketball, tons of ball movement. Differences: one team was stacked with all time players just past their prime willing to focus on the goal at hand and the other is stacked with possible all time players just beneath their prime. I think this is why it’s hard to see this team for what they are because usually it’s the long time vets that come and play this kind of basketball (Ala the 08 Celtics and 14 Spurs). The 24 Celtics are new territory.
Kidd takes time out with 5 minutes to go and on a 20 to 2 run. Luka is clearly not happy and after time gets 2 fouls . Could have been greatest comeback in playoff history but sad game 3 instead.
The key is this: YOU DO NOT GET A GREAT TEAM WITHOUT THE TOP PLAYER SACRIFICING PERSONAL STATS! It’s not that Tatum isn’t as good as other team’s super stars. It’s that he bought in to the idea that he needed a stronger team to win a ring. And to build a stronger team Tatum had to step back to help his teammates take on bigger roles to grow in their skills and especially their confidence. So that the team could win through any player’s injury or slump. It’s been just beautiful to watch the growth in other players’ confidence all season. THAT is how the Celtics got here.
It doesn’t matter in the long run, but i think a part of it is the teams they played on the way to this championship. Played 3 hurt east teams, then the 5th seeded mavs. If they win another one next year, no doubt one of the greatest teams ever.
Jamal is just a prince of a person. Talk about role models. And if you gave him a jersey he could still go out and get you 20 undoubtedly. PS- The Celtics will be better next year. This is their first year together and once Tatum gets over the hump and can start to relax a little, look out...
JJ gets it, he understands the importance of the TEAM as opposed to individuals. I've been a Celtics fan since birth and in my opinion I don't care if Tatum finishes a finals game with 13 pts if they win as a TEAM.
To beat the celtics, one must attack their principles: Assumption 1: Uncontested Threes are Easy Points Employ a "hedge and recover" defense, to disrupt the timing of the screen and force contested threes, making it a less reliable scoring option. Assumption 2: Spacing Guarantees Open Looks Use zone defense with active rotations, clog driving lanes and force them out of their preferred spacing, making it harder to find truly open shots. Assumption 3: They Can Always Get Their Preferred Shot Deny the pass and play tight defense, make it difficult for them to get into their ideal offensive rhythm and force them to take tougher shots or make riskier passes. Ultimately, disrupt their rhythm and exploit weaknesses.
I was a skeptic...weak Eastern conference, weak playoff opponents, and advanced stats are noisy. But I admit I was wrong. All the team metrics - net rating, SRS, Elo - point to an all time great team. They don't get credit because they play as a team and don't do hero ball. They were the favorite to come out of the East before they added Jrue Holiday and Porzingis. Also, Derrick White and Jrue Holiday have been incredible. Not a weak link among them.
To JJ's final point, this matchup is the perfect illustration of how skewed the media has been in talking about the Celtics. How many people in the media said, "Dallas couldn't even make the playoffs last season. They can't beat the Celtics"? Not only do they not discuss past Dallas seasons--they basically only talk about how Dallas played post trades. The funniest part is that the Celtics still had a better record than Dallas during that period. But when they talk about the Celtics, they talk more about past seasons than this season. As if any of the guys Dallas picked up are as impactful as Jrue or KP.
Yes, agreed with JJ. You brought up a good point. I feel this Boston is not all-time great, because this team is has more players who is above average with two tier 2 superstar. And the team play they allows everyone made the shot in late clucth. I hate that. Last shot should be either Tatum or Brown. As a fan, thats what we expect they two to bring to team, not Jrue, not Derrick...not Horford...
The wild thing is, as good as the Celtics were this year, if KP can replicate what he did in Washington: 65 Games, healthy at the end of the season, they can be even BETTER. Can't wait to see how they play next year once this monkey (1 game to go, no freebees) is off their backs.
No cap teams are gonna be after our neck next season every game will either be tough or Celtics will be so great that it won’t matter already can’t wait for next season cuz probably every game gon feel like a playoff game
To put it in a couple words…. People just hate the Celtics for no reason( expect lakers fans, they have a reason to hate). If Tatum or brown was playing in any other team especially the lakers they would be getting all the praise and glaze😂😂😂
Agree with JJ. The Celtics aren't seen as an all-time team because they don't have that MVP-level first option like Jordan, LeBron, Steph or Kawhi. Ideally though, we should have this conversation after the series.
Exactly. The media is just being super salty that they were soooo freakin wrong. Only like 2 of them saw the writing on the wall. This Celtics team is not the same team it was last year!!!
People will sleep on this team all time because KP was injured for basically the entire playoffs. These games wouldn't even be as competitive as they are otherwise.
Followers like their heroes. The average Fan / person wants a hero they can identify with. The Celtics don’t have a hero . They play Team Ball on both sides. Most people don’t watch the game for the love of the game. The lack of appreciation for the Celtics by the media is proof of that. ( “ Just Give’m what they want”) Heroes get made by the media to sell to the masses. Kudos to JJ for stating that the Celtics are great and should be appreciated for that. But my guess is he knows he’s up for the Coaching job, so he no longer needs to please the masses.
reason why ppl look at them odd is because they almost did what they do in playing down to teams. for example those two games in March vs the Hawks. then yall don't really praise JB and just focus on JT. the core of the team is still there too
Those back to back Hawks games in March and that Bron & AD-less Lakers game on February 1st is definitely them playing down to their competition. Celtics coulda had 70 wins this year!
Kudos to JJ for calling out the lack of recognition of how great this year's Celtics are. They probably won't even get that recognition if they win it all, which honestly would be embarrassing by the media talking heads... Can't stand Nick Wrong, Skip Clueless et al.
This Boston team is definitely the most slept on championship team I’ve ever seen through the year (obviously they need to win 1 more). But so many “experts” had Boston losing. A lot didn’t even think they would come out the East. But if u look at their roster u look pretty stupid in hindsight. I didn’t know if they were coming out of the East through the year but I knew they had a chance and didn’t count them out like a lot of people did. This is the best complete team in the NBA and they literally have no weaknesses in their starting 5 offensively or defensively. Nobody is a liability on offense or defense, and that’s not common. I’m so happy this is playing out the way it is because I hate ring culture in the NBA and everyone thinking it’s all about 1 individual. This team dominated this postseason and made it look extremely easy. Dont get me wrong they got lucky with key opponent injuries throughout the postseason but in the NBA it’s a next man up mentality and u can only play who is in front of u. And with that they got the most rest and the most confidence. Leading to this dominating performance. U have to applaud them and give them their credit as a team
