The Celtics have been able to make themselves a consistent, relevant team in the NBA, specifically over the last decade or so, making the playoffs virtually every season.
The past two postseasons came with earlier exits than they anticipated, and now the franchise is moving in a new direction with a new rotation this upcoming season.
It’s hard to pinpoint why things went wrong, but it’s never good to be dead last in a stat category, which Boston was this past regular season.
Dead last sounds bad, but does it actually mean anything in this specific case? Let’s take a look.
Do the Celtics Need to Play Differently in 2026-27 After Finishing Dead Last in This Key Stat?
In the 2025-26 NBA season, the Celtics finished 30th, or dead last, in the stat ‘PACE.’
PACE, in simple terms, is the average number of possessions a team has in 48 minutes (a regular four-quarter game).
MORE:Â Where Celtics Rank in Eastern Conference After Peyton Watson, Klay Thompson News
A lower PACE means a team is involved in a slower game and usually takes more time to take shots on offense.
The opposite applies for a higher PACE, as teams get shots off quicker, and possession changes more often.
The Celtics were last in the league this past season in PACE with a 95.58, while the Heat were first with a PACE of 104.22.
The team with the highest PACE doesn’t always have success, though, as the Heat didn’t have any better of a season than the Celtics did.
MORE:Â Is Celtics’ Hugo Gonzalez Really Worth All the Hype?
Here’s where recent title teams ranked in the regular season for PACE:
YearTeamPACELeague Rank2025-26Knicks97.7125th2024-25Thunder100.905th2023-24Celtics97.9819th2022-23Nuggets98.7424th2021-22Warriors98.7415th2020-21Bucks102.852nd2019-20Lakers101.2011th
As you can see, a specific league rank in PACE doesn’t always correlate with winning.
It’s varied for the title teams in recent years, but that doesn’t eliminate the idea that a team could make changes to how it operates.
The Celtics have had some struggles at times in the past two seasons, and their PACE has remained at the very bottom of the league rankings for both the regular season and playoffs.
It might be worth trying to increase their PACE, and alter their shot selection to see if they can get back on track this upcoming season, as what they’ve done the last 24 months has failed them in the big moments.
MORE:Â Former Celtic Jaylen Brown ‘Offended’ by His New NBA 2K27 Rating
They were 19th in the league when they won the title in 2023-24, so maybe inching back closer to that position could result in more consistent results and could get them the balanced formula they’re looking for.
PACE aside, their shooting is the #1 area they need to improve in this upcoming season, but that could come hand in hand with other changes in how their offense is run.
More Celtics