Final season, the Boston Celtics secured the 18th championship in franchise historical past. Led by Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown, head coach Joe Mazzulla’s workforce dominated each the common season and the playoffs, with the Celtics holding their postseason opponents to beneath 100 factors in 11 of their 19 video games.
Regardless of what some consider was a simple postseason run, the Celtics remained locked in at each flip as they tried to banish the recollections of their 2022 NBA Finals loss to the Golden State Warriors. Throughout a latest interview with Gary Washburn of The Boston Globe, Tatum opened up on the second he knew the Celtics would safe their first championship since 2008.
“Folks at all times ask me, when did you guys know you have been going to win a championship?” Tatum stated. “When Minnesota beat Denver, I felt like Denver was the one workforce that they matched up greatest with us. I assumed that we have been going to play Denver within the Finals and it was going to be an excellent one.”
Relatively than a slobber-knocker in opposition to the Denver Nuggets, the Celtics confronted off in opposition to the Dallas Mavericks, who they beat in 5 video games. Boston’s deep playoff expertise seemingly performed an element of their success, as did their loss to the Golden State Warriors in 2022.
The Celtics will now enter the brand new season with a goal on their again. Mazzulla’s workforce should show that it is success wasn’t a product of circumstance and that it could proceed to problem for championships within the coming years.
“[Coach] Joe Mazzulla, he had an ideal quote the opposite day,” Tatum stated. “He stated, we’re not defending something. We’re chasing one other championship… Actually, after opening night time, we’ve got to place it behind us. It’s a brand new season. Final 12 months was final 12 months, we completed one thing particular. We’ve received to determine a strategy to get higher. We needed to strategy the sport with the identical mind-set, and we did an incredible job of that final 12 months.”
A number of groups across the NBA have improved this summer season, particularly within the Jap Convention. Paul George joined the Philadelphia 76ers and Mikal Bridges teamed up with Jalen Brunson and crew in New York. As such, Tatum cannot concentrate on only one workforce to substantiate whether or not his workforce will win back-to-back championships. As a substitute, he and the remainder of his teammates should embrace the grind. The Celtics have some extent to show and the upcoming season is the right platform on which to show it.