BOSTON — The Celtics know every game they play will have a microscope on them. Not necessarily in the form of the entire nation watching, but in the sense that each team knows the C’s are the reigning NBA champions. For this season at least, they are the gold standard after winning the 2024 title. That means getting every team’s best shot on a consistent basis.
Teams like the Knicks swung huge trades in hopes of being able to match up against the Celtics. New York, at least, has struggled against Boston, dropping all three games to the C’s in the season series. The latest result was a 118-105 Celtics victory Sunday as they stood strong against a Knicks surge in the second half. Jayson Tatum stated a bold claim when it comes to what it’s like going up against teams like the Knicks.
“It’s just the responsibility you have when you win the championship,” Tatum said. “When the Warriors was going on they run, teams were building their team to compete with them. When Denver won the championship, Minnesota built that team to kind of beat Denver. So there’s a responsibility that comes with when you’re the champs and you’re the standard.”
No team has repeated as champions since 2017-18, when the Warriors still with Kevin Durant got to the mountaintop twice. So the Celtics have a real chance to that as they’ve played better basketball of late, winning nine of their past 10 games. Notably, they’re looking to also undo another recent trend: The last three reigning champs have lost in the second round, much less getting back to the NBA Finals.
The Celtics are in a unique situation compared to recent teams, though. They brought back virtually their same roster this year. The C’s have endured injury issues, but they’re currently healthy with 25 games left in the season. A lot needs to go right for any title run, but the Celtics have at least put themselves in position to repeat.
But teams will continue to try and gear up to stop the Celtics. The Cavaliers are having one of their best seasons of all-time, but they also made moves in hopes they can slow down the reigning champs. So there’s plenty of basketball left to be played, but make no mistake that the Celtics are being viewed under the microscope in hopes of stopping them.
“Guys or teams try to build their team to compete with that style to play or whatever it may be,” Tatum said. “But the most important challenge that we have is we just focus on us. It’s no guarantee who we gonna play in the playoffs. But we’ll be up for the challenge, whoever we play. But our biggest motivation is just with ourselves and being the best version of us and just trying to get a little bit better every day.”
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