Fatal Flaw: Boston Celtics Must Take 3 Next Steps to Stay Atop NBA East
BOSTON -- In 2019, the Red Sea parted for the Boston Bruins.
After taking the subpar Toronto Maple Leafs to seven games in the first round, the Bruins found themselves alone amongst the typical blue-bloods of the conference.
By the time the team made the second round, the 62-win Tampa Bay Lightning and the defending champion Washington Capitals were already eliminated -- leaving a cakewalk to the Stanley Cup finals against the fatigued Columbus Blue Jackets and Carolina Hurricanes. With the universe clearly in their corner, Boston made the Stanley Cup Finals as expected.
And then they choked.
This time around, it was the Boston Celtics' turn make the Finals - and to choke.
Maybe it will end up being a positive learning experience. As Jayson Tatum said, “We know what it feels like to get to this point. Getting here and not accomplishing it — it’s tough. You don’t want to feel like this again, but you want to get back here.
"It’s going to fuel us.”
Maybe. But a review of what actually happened here paints a different picture.
The 2021-22 playoff run started with one of tightest sweeps in playoff history -- the third closest of all time, fact -- against the Brooklyn Nets. This was a Nets squad whose primary duo of Kyrie Irving and Kevin Durant had played less games together than LeBron James and Shaquille O'Neal or Kobe Bryant and Steve Nash. It took a buzzer-beater and multiple comebacks for a victory that on paper looked easy, but in reality was more grueling than it needed to be.
After a first-round sweep, the Celtics found themselves matched up against the defending champion Milwaukee Bucks. The Bucks were missing Khris Middleton, who was not only their second-best player but also poised to resume his role as the perennial reincarnation of Michael Jordan he always seems to be against Boston.
Despite very clearly being the better team against a Middleton-less Milwaukee team, the Celtics still took seven games to win the series. Turnovers were starting to rear their ugly head as a significant issue for the team, almost costing them the series altogether in a chaotic Game Five loss at home that sent them back to Wisconsin down 3-2.
In the Eastern Conference Finals against the Miami Heat, Boston was once again the clearly more talented team. Yet, the offense refused to get out of its own way. Out of seven games, the Celtics had more than 15 turnovers in four. Energy problems plagued the squad; the team almost blew a double-digit lead in the last three minutes of game seven.
Even with the tumultuous journey that brought Boston to the Finals, they looked poised to win their first chip since 2008. That is, until the turning point of the series: Game 4. With a chance to go up 3-1 in the series, the team was unable to score a basket or stop turning the ball over. But the underlying issue was deeper than that.
Game 4 emphasized the cold hard truth that lies at the very core of the NBA: you need superstars to win the O'Brien Trophy. Not stars. Superstars.
Steph Curry is a superstar. Tatum and Jaylen Brown, for all their excellence, are not superstars. Generally speaking, superstars can dribble to their left. Superstars don't repeatedly pass into lanes defended by multiple defenders. Superstars don't score two points in the second half of an elimination game in the NBA finals.
Yes, Boston's bench depth was horrendous. At moments it felt like Grant Williams and Payton Pritchard had used up all their magic against the Bucks and Heat. Despite that, the Celtics repeatedly found themselves in close games down the stretch in the finals requiring a superstar to spark the offense -- and there were none to be found.
But here's the bitter truth: the Celtics cannot win the Finals with a core of just the "Jays'' -- unless they take yet another big step up in their game. It would frankly be surprising if they even made the Finals again in the next five years if the duo does not significantly improve. If they do, feel free to cite this article and ridicule it for all it's worth.
Brown can be an excellent second-option scorer, and Tatum is a fantastic next option. But as of now, neither can take charge of a team like a true superstar like, say, Dallas' Luka Doncic, who pushed the eventual champion Golden State Warriors to just one less game than Boston despite having a much poorer surrounding cast.
For the Celtics to win an NBA championship in the next five years, two of the following three things probably need to happen:
1. Tatum takes this loss as a learning experience and becomes a true superstar. Instead of trying to (unsuccessfully) foul-bait, he shifts his mentality and starts to show more aggression inside.
2. The team acquires a true superstar in the offseason. With current rumors circulating that Irving wants to leave Brooklyn, there is a small chance Boston makes a push to acquire an all-time great scorer in Durant. Despite being on the back-nine of his career, Durant is still an elite scorer that can take immense pressure off Tatum and Brown's shoulders. The former NBA MVP almost signed with Boston during the summer of 2016, when he ultimately signed with the Warriors instead in one of the most infamous free agency decisions in sports history.
Portland Trailblazers' point guard Damien Lillard and Washington Wizards shooting guard Bradley Beal (Tatum's childhood friend) are also perennial names that come up as targets for the team.
3. The bench improves significantly with the help of proven veterans. Admittedly, acquiring Durant is extremely unlikely. At the very least, the team needs a pure scorer who can take offensive pressure off the "Jays'' when needed -- shooters like Seth Curry or Joe Harris could at least assuage moments where the Jays' offensive play hits rough points.
The good news for Celtics fans is that two of these are under general manager Brad Stevens' control. Stevens, in just one season, has already made a massive impact on the team's success. With his track record thus far, there is reason to be optimistic in whatever moves Stevens makes to address these concerns.
In general, this year's run cannot be taken for granted. In the 2011-12 season, a young Oklahoma City Thunder team led by a 23-year-old Durant, 23-year-old Russell Westbrook, and 22-year-old James Harden lost to Miami in the Finals. In the aftermath of a 4-1 series loss, the team was widely predicted to be a budding juggernaut. Of course, they never made the Finals again.
"It stings to come up short, but there’s a lot to learn and the future is bright,'' said Brown.
It's easy to see a young team like Boston and just assume that their success will sustain. However, Finals appearances are fickle. Teams have limited championship windows, and even though the Celtics' window has only just opened, they still have a long way to go before they can consistently call themselves the best team in the East.
