{"id":705148,"date":"2026-04-08T12:06:34","date_gmt":"2026-04-08T12:06:34","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/705148\/"},"modified":"2026-04-08T12:06:34","modified_gmt":"2026-04-08T12:06:34","slug":"for-the-boston-celtics-now-is-not-the-time-to-celebrate-but-lets-celebrate","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/705148\/","title":{"rendered":"For The Boston Celtics, Now Is Not The Time To Celebrate \u2014 But Let\u2019s Celebrate"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

By no means is it time to celebrate. Nobody\u2019s looking, though, so let\u2019s celebrate just a little.<\/p>\n

The Boston Celtics are headed to the playoffs. To be clear, making it to the playoffs in and of itself is nothing to write home about \u2014 especially in this city. For a team, though, whose win total was pegged at 41.5 by the BetMGM online sportsbook ahead of the season, let\u2019s give a little credit where credit is due.<\/p>\n

Now of course, those odds were set not long after five-time All-NBA superstar Jayson Tatum ruptured his Achillies<\/a> in the second round of last year\u2019s playoffs. They also took into consideration the departures of Jrue Holiday, Kristaps Porzingis, Al Horford, and Luke Kornet, who all played vital roles in Boston\u2019s run to a championship in 2024. Alas though. Here we are.<\/p>\n

Celtics, Brown Troll Vegas Oddsmakers <\/p>\n

What Vegas didn\u2019t take into account when predicting the victory total for the winningest franchise in NBA history was its will to win. A will reinforced daily by leading Coach of the Year candidate Joe Mazzulla, and won embodied on the hardwood by the team\u2019s other superstar \u2014 five-time All-Star Jaylen Brown.<\/p>\n

\u201c50 wins in a gap year \u2618\ufe0f,\u201d Brown tweeted following Boston\u2019s win over the Charlotte Hornets on March 29, his team\u2019s seventh win in eight games.<\/p>\n

\"CelticsApr 3, 2026; Milwaukee, Wisconsin, USA; Boston Celtics forward Jaylen Brown (7) looks to pass the ball against the Milwaukee Bucks in the first quarter at Fiserv Forum. Mandatory Credit: Benny Sieu-Imagn Images <\/p>\n

Fast-forward a little more than a week, and the Celtics now sit at 53 wins with a matchup against those same Hornets on the docket for tonight at 8 p.m. at the TD Garden. With four games remaining in the regular season, Boston is all but assured the No. 2 seed in the Eastern Conference<\/a> \u2014 the same seed the team had entering last year\u2019s playoffs.<\/p>\n

\u2018Winning Is The Most Important Thing\u2019 <\/p>\n

\u201cI think it\u2019s just a testament to the alignment of the organization and to the players,\u201d Mazzulla said of his team\u2019s success this season. \u201cWe\u2019ve shifted players over the last five years a bunch of different ways, but winning still remains the most important thing. It\u2019s a minor milestone. I wouldn\u2019t say that it\u2019s a true definition of success, but I think it\u2019s a definition of consistency. I think that starts with the players that put on the jersey and have an understanding that winning is the most important thing, and how serious they take it.\u201d<\/p>\n

Clearly, this iteration of the Boston Celtics is taking winning extremely seriously, no matter the hand they\u2019re dealt. The rest of the league assumed Boston \u2014 without Tatum \u2014 would cut its losses. The Celtics would lean into a gap year and try to compete (or not compete) for a lottery pick in the upcoming NBA Draft. Mazzulla\u2019s squad did anything but.<\/p>\n

\"CelticsApr 5, 2026; Boston, Massachusetts, USA; Boston Celtics head coach Joe Mazzulla speaks to his players on the court during the second half against the Toronto Raptors at TD Garden. Mandatory Credit: Gregory Fisher-Imagn Images <\/p>\n

Instead, Brown carried the Celtics on his back, playing his way into the MVP conversation with the best statistical season of his career. His 28.7 points per game are the fourth most in the NBA, with the 29-year-old being names an All-Star starter for the very first time.<\/p>\n

End Of My Boston Celtics Rant <\/p>\n

Even better for the 2024 NBA Finals MVP and fans of the Celtics is the fact that Tatum is back and playing like his regular self. The 28-year-old dropped a season-high 32 points in that win over Charlotte that gave the Celtics their 50th win. He then went on to record his fifth-career triple-double days later in a win over the Miami Heat.<\/p>\n

In a city like Boston, winning championships is everything. Merely advancing to the playoffs is no reason to celebrate. That being said, Celtics fans have been through a lot in the last year. So let\u2019s celebrate \u2014 just a little.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"By no means is it time to celebrate. Nobody\u2019s looking, though, so let\u2019s celebrate just a little. The…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":705149,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3766],"tags":[7,45,75,3798,46,6],"class_list":{"0":"post-705148","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-boston-celtics","8":"tag-basketball","9":"tag-boston","10":"tag-boston-celtics","11":"tag-bostonceltics","12":"tag-celtics","13":"tag-nba"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nba\/116369005076622315","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/705148","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=705148"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/705148\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/705149"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=705148"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=705148"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=705148"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}