Celtics Let Another One Slip, and Card Prices are Affected
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With a game one stunner in TD Garden, the Boston Celtics looked for a bounce back game against the New York Knicks on Wednesday night during game two. While everyone expected a playoff experienced Celtics team to respond and win game two, it ended up being deja vu for the green and white. For the second straight game, the Celtics gave up a 20 point lead, and allowed the Knicks to grab hold of a 2-0 series lead.
In situations like these, the sports card market responds with a decent bump to the underdog winners. However, when the “better” team lets such a large lead slip away, it certainly feels like the favorite loses the game, rather than the underdog winning it. The Celtics have been playing a risky game of “live by the three, die by the three”, and they have executed the latter. Brunson and company may receive a marginal price bump in their market, but Celtics stars may be seeing a larger loss on key cards with the fear of an unexpected exit. With this game two slip, it is interesting to see which key cards are negatively impacted the most, and if a simple game three win will rebound them.
Jayson Tatum 2017 Prizm Silver Rookie
Starting with one of Jayson Tatum’s key rookie cards, 2017 Prizm Silver, there has been a 30-day decline with the raw version of this card of 7.1%. However, that doesn’t tell the story of what we are looking for. However, when looking at the PSA 10’s, there is a 5.2% increase over the course of the month (which is to be expected because of a round one win), however the recent sales are trending downward. For example, on April 27th, the card sold for $825, and on May 5th it sold for $765. Interestingly enough, even the May 5th sale was before both of the brutal losses to the knocks, which means the value may be down to around the $740 mark as of now.
Jaylen Brown 2016 Prizm Green Rookie (Color match)
Looking at Tatum’s counterpart, Jaylen Brown, his market is also reflecting a downward turn. The color-matching, 2016 Prizm Green Rookie has seen better days, with a 47.4% decline over the past month for its PSA 10’s ($205 difference). On April 12th, this card sold for $636, while its most recent sale was on May 4th for $432. Again, even the last sale isn’t indicative of the most recent losses to the Knicks, therefore there will probably be an even bigger dip in the coming days (estimate of around a $400 sale).
It is very important to remember that these cards and these players are very “liquid” in the NBA playoffs, as a good game can spike a card's prices and rebound their market, and a tough stretch can do the opposite as we have seen. For anyone holding a prominent card of a Celtics superstar, it may not be time to worry, as they are still the more experienced team, and to be transparent, the better of the two. However, after their 2024 NBA championship win, we may be seeing the Celtic’s luck slipping away.
Abram King is a Pittsburgh native, die-hard fan of all things Black & Gold, and a passionate sports card collector. With years of experience in the hobby, he brings a sharp insight, deep knowledge, and hometown pride to his coverage. This is your inside edge of the hobby, straight from the Steel City.