BOSTON — The Celtics are in rest-and-prepare mode right now. As they should be. They earned every bit of this 10-day break they get between the end of the East Finals and the NBA Finals. The best team in the NBA this season — by a large margin — went 12-2 in the East playoffs, including sweeping the conference finals.
Sure, yes, the critics will point out that the Celtics had a relatively clear path to the Finals. There were injuries (Jimmy Butler, Donovan Mitchell and Tyrese Haliburton). But at the same time, well, the Celtics earned this path. The regular season should mean something, so a 64-win team getting an easier route should be how this all works.
As C’s coach Joe Mazzulla pointed out, some luck also never hurt. This is his first run to the NBA Finals as the head guy, but he did see up-close what it takes to get that far two seasons. And what he learned, he said, was how consistently thin the margins are in the regular season and playoffs.
“When you get to a certain place, everybody always ignores the what-if possessions and they always go to all the good things that we did,” Mazzulla said. “And when you lose everybody ignores the good things that you did and talks about the what-if things that you did. So what separates winning and losing is obviously a mindset and toughness and execution, but things also have to go your way.”
With the Mavericks beating the Wolves in Game 5 on Thursday, the Celtics will face a talented team that will also be well-rested. Dallas gets about a week off ahead of the Finals, which is significant as the Mavs have been banged up. But the narratives should quiet down — barring injury — about the Celtics facing uncompetitive teams. The Mavs, Luka Doncic and Kyrie Irving are a formidable team that made it out of the West.
Nobody’s breaking any news to say every Finals and championship run needs some fortune along the way. It’s extremely difficult to win 16 playoff games. Injuries certainly play a factor; Kristaps Porzingis hasn’t played for the majority of the playoffs so far. But the Celtics are that good they can miss a crucial piece like Porzingis because they have the depth to win multiple rounds anyway.
And don’t forget: The Celtics haven’t exactly shied away from taking the difficult path. Two seasons ago, they chose to go for the No. 2 seed on the final day of the season, setting up a potential matchup with the then-talented Nets in the first round. They swept that series. Then they had to go through the defending champion Bucks and a strong Heat squad, both of whom they beat in grueling seven-game series. Other teams have shied away from certain playoff matchups (hi, Cleveland). The Celtics haven’t dodged opponents with Jaylen Brown and Jayson Tatum leading the way.
The Celtics, also, have had extremely difficult playoff paths in the past. So if they get an easy one this one time? That’s how the breaks go sometimes. On the flip side, they also created this opportunity for themselves because there haven’t been many unfathomable games these playoffs. Sure, they’ve dropped a couple games. But two stinkers out of 14 total playoff games aren’t anything to raise concerns about. The clutch execution in the Indiana series and 3-0 record in closeout games are better indicators this team isn’t messing around.
Just last season, the Nuggets also had a favorable path on their way to a championship. Here are the seedings in order of the teams they faced: No. 8, No. 4, No. 7 then No. 8 in the Finals. That’s not to take away from how talented their opponents were last season or the Nuggets. All the Nuggets did was face the opponent in front of them — just like the Celtics this season. Nobody should criticize that. The Nuggets even got an assist from the Celtics as the Heat needed all seven games to get to the Finals. Denver got an exhausted Miami team in the Finals whereas the Nuggets swept the Lakers in the West Finals. Boston isn’t quite getting that dream scenario as Dallas will have plenty of time off after winning in five games.
So there will certainly be some detractors who want to take away from the Celtics’ playoff run. Good. That’s how haters should operate; this is just sports, after all. And the Celtics are hated for plenty of reasons. That’s also good. It’s a much better place to be than irrelevancy. And for now, there’s no better place to be than the NBA Finals as the Celtics are just four wins away from Banner No. 18.
