The Celtics may have missed out on their record 18th title, but they weren’t supposed to be in this position in the first place if you look back at where they were a few months ago.
Their NBA 2022 odds were bad earlier this season and it looked like that heading into the play-in tournament was their best case scenario.
But what was once a playoff afterthought, Boston now look like legitimate title contenders, so they’ll enter next season with heightened expectations.
Without further ado, join us today as SBOTOP looks back on how they’ve made their improbable run to the Finals.
Shaky start almost ruined the Celtics’ playoff hopes
Fresh from an underwhelming 2021-22 campaign, the Celtics made several changes from top to bottom.
Brad Stevens took over as president of basketball operations when Danny Ainge stepped down and then he hired Ime Udoka to replace him as head coach. Following his promotion, Stevens brought in Dennis Schroder, Enes Freedom, Josh Richardson, and Al Horford when they traded away Kemba Walker to OKC.
Boston endured a rough start as they were three games under .500 in late December (16-19 record) and they were once the 10th seed in the Eastern Conference at 23-24 in January.
Their inconsistent play reared its ugly head and there were debates on whether Jaylen Brown and Jayson Tatum should be broken up. At that time, Al Horford described it as a “very dark period”.
How things started to turn around
Perhaps their lowest point was when they suffered a brutal defeat to the Knicks where they coughed up a 25-point lead.
Ime Udoka put his team on blast saying that the team lacked mental toughness. It can also be noted that Marcus Smart also specifically called out Jaylen Brown and Jayson Tatum for not moving the basketball enough a few weeks ago.
It was the wake-up call Boston needed, and then Jaylen Brown’s tweet kickstarted their turnaround.
Boston went back to basics and started to trust each other more – which resulted to them closing the regular season 34-12 while boasting the league’s best point differential and defence, and placing third overall in offence.
Brad Stevens also made key moves that helped, including the acquisitions of Daniel Theis and Derrick White to bolster their bench.
Towards the end of the regular season, they had the option to rest and be the third seed with a potentially easier first round matchup against the sixth-seeded Bulls. But instead, they chose to get more good NBA 2022 results to finish as the second seed in the East.
2021-22 has been a wild ride for Boston
First up for the Celtics are the Nets, who were the seventh seed after winning their first play-in game vs. the Cavaliers. Many pundits picked the Nets for the upset, but the Celtics swept them in four games.
And then came the defending champions, the Milwaukee Bucks. Despite without Khris Middleton, Giannis Antetokounmpo and Jrue Holiday did all they could and they were in control at one point after taking the 3-2 series lead in Game 5.
But Jayson Tatum replied with a signature performance in Game 6 where he dropped 46 points to outscore Giannis Antetokounmpo. And then in Game 7, Grant Williams made it rain with his seven three-pointers to tow Boston back to the ECF against the Heat.
In the ECF, Boston looked the better team on paper but Miami didn’t back down as Jimmy Butler willed them on. Butler channeled his inner Heat LeBron in Game 6 where he scored 47 points to shush a hostile Boston crowd to push the series to a seventh game that was played in Miami.
Come Game 7, the Celtics were leading and they were holding on for dear life towards the end. Boston were up by two with less than 30 seconds left, and had Jimmy Butler’s late pull-up three went in, it would’ve been another sad ending for the Celtics.
Fortunately for them it didn’t, and they were back to the Finals for the first time since 2010 after beating all of the teams that eliminated them in the past three seasons.
Winning the title would’ve been a perfect ending for the Celtics, but it simply wasn’t meant to be against the dynastic Warriors.
At one point, the Celtics led the series 2-1, but the Warriors’ championship mettle was in full display in the last three games with Steph Curry leading the way.
Losing the Finals was a bitter pill to swallow for the Celtics, but this should only mark the beginning of something special for them.
●●●
CHECK OUT OUR BLOG FOR MORE BASKETBALL STORIES & ODDS
Stay updated with everything sports and betting.
Follow us on social Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and YouTube.
