On Sunday, the Boston Celtics picked up a 110-94 road win over the New York Knicks to zoom to a 50-27 record and all was right with the world. Brad Stevens’ team wasn’t necessarily seen as a top-flight contender to claim the 2017 NBA Championship, but at the end of the weekend, Boston held a half-game lead over the reigning champion Cleveland Cavaliers and looked to be in prime position to claim homecourt throughout the Eastern Conference Playoffs.
Fast-forward just four days, though, and the wheels have come off for the Celtics.
While that may seem dramatic for a team that is still projected to finish second in the conference by a comfortable margin, Boston’s week did not go as planned. First, the Celtics were unceremoniously blasted by LeBron James and company on Wednesday in front of a national television audience (and without Tristan Thompson), while pundits were left with more questions than answers about the performance.
Then, just 24 hours later, Boston entered a nationally televised contest against the Atlanta Hawks as a small favorite and immediately were run out of the building to the tune of a 16-point halftime deficit and 71 points allowed in 24 minutes to a bottom-five offense.
To their credit, the Celtics responded and made the Hawks fight for a seven-point victory, but Boston looked to be a team that was struggling to find a second gear. That is, quite obviously, a criticism that many have levied on the team since its construction. And while Brad Stevens is a highly respected coach, it has often been peddled that his system and the team’s depth maximize its potential while leaving little room for playoff growth in the short term.
The Cavaliers were clearly motivated, led by their leader in James, and it was easy to see the difference in the two teams on Wednesday evening. That, of course, does not mean that Cleveland will trounce Boston at every opportunity, but the cracks of a team that is struggling at an inopportune time were apparent on Thursday in Atlanta. When the dust settled, this was a squad that was given only a five percent chance at claiming the top spot that looked be borderline likely just days earlier.
The Celtics have major flaws, most notably in rebounding and in shot creation when Isaiah Thomas leaves the floor, and both have been magnified against recent opponents. More importantly, though, the whispers about Boston’s ultimate ceiling have morphed into full-blown screams under the microscope provided by early April basketball.
Is this is a vulnerable team in a playoff series against the Milwaukee Bucks, Indiana Pacers, Miami Heat, or Atlanta Hawks? Probably not, but in round two when matched up against one of the clear top four in the East, it remains to be seen if the Celtics have the next-level gear needed to perform and emerge victorious.
On one hand, it is an immense credit to Stevens, Thomas, Al Horford and company that they regularly perform at or near maximum capacity on the way to a 50-win season. On the other, the Celtics now face the conundrum that many predicted about their ultimate peak – and nothing that happens between now and the start of the NBA Playoffs can answer that lingering question.
