BOSTON — A month from now, there could be confetti floating down from the TD Garden rafters and championship parade plans being announced and there will be people saying, “Yeah but Jayson Tatum was lackluster.” Or “They did a lousy job of putting the game away when they had a third-quarter lead.”
The 2024 Boston Celtics could be underwhelming and still earn banner No. 18.
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The Celtics haven’t been at or really even near their peak very often this postseason, but it hasn’t mattered. The way the 2024 playoffs have gone, Boston hasn’t played to its potential and they might never have to as long as they avoid a serious injury.
Thursday’s Game 2 win was the perfect encapsulation of just how smoothly things have gone for Boston. They weren’t great and they didn’t have to be to win by 16 points.
Some of that is impressive depth. The Celtics aren’t relying on anyone too much. They can lose Kristaps Porzingis and not miss him. Not only can Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown carry the team for a night, but so can Derrick White, Jrue Holiday and for stretches Al Horford or Payton Pritchard can too.
But they’re benefitting from the attrition happening around the league, especially in the Eastern Conference. The teams the Celtics have played are missing stars. On top of that, they didn’t have to face the Knicks or the Bucks because injuries killed them off before the Celtics had a chance to.
Boston beat a shell of Miami team without Jimmy Butler in the first round. Cleveland barely made a stain on the Celtics’ windshield before being flicked aside. Indiana arrived in Boston with a terrific game plan and strong effort and still lost Game 1 in overtime. The Pacers couldn’t muster the same performance and got lapped in Game 2. On top of that, star point guard Tyrese Haliburton got hurt and his status is uncertain going forward.
Without Haliburton, the NBA’s leader in assists, the Celtics could sleepwalk past Indiana. Even with him, the Pacers seem unlikely to present a serious challenge. They’re just not good enough.
During the pregame, Indiana coach Rick Carlisle thanked the Boston police for giving his team bus an escort through Hub traffic. Little did he know that the blue sirens were leading his team to an ambush.
Tatum was sluggish for much of Game 2 and it didn’t matter. The Celtics were down to one big after Luke Kornet got hurt and nothing changed. The NBA and TV networks have to be praying for the Mavericks to face the Celtics in the NBA Finals just to create something resembling a compelling storyline.
The Celtics feel like a heavyweight champion looking at a division filled with bulked-up cruiserweights posing as the top available contenders. I
t’s too bad really. Boston has a roster good enough to battle its way to a title against a gauntlet. It would have been fun to watch them try. Instead, they might be able to coast there with barely a speed bump to block their path. The Celtics’ own complacency poses a much bigger threat than anyone left in the playoffs.
In the West, the defending champion Nuggets are out. The top-seeded Thunder are gone too. If Dallas, who is up 1-0, wins the series and the Celtics advance to face them, Boston’s foes would have been a No. 8 seed, a No. 4, a No. 6 and a No. 5.
It’s never going to get easier than that.
Follow MassLive sports columnist Matt Vautour on Twitter at @MattVautour424.
