Oof.
I need a minute to unfold myself and get some air back in my bruised lungs. That one hurt.
I think the reason it hurt so much is because it was so unexpected. I predicted a sweep for the Celtics. I dismissed the Sixers as first round fodder. I did not expect MVP Joel Embiid to show up. I did not expect Playoff P to show up. I was fully expecting Maxey to play the way he did, but everything else was shocking. Hats off to Philly that became the fully actualized version of themselves before our eyes.
As for the Celtics, I don’t know exactly what went wrong. I’m sure that smarter basketball minds (on this blog and elsewhere) will break down the film and let us know what worked and what didn’t. All I know is that the scrappy, overachieving team that we had come to know and love throughout the year, faltered under the bright lights. I would love to chalk this up to the younger players getting exposed to the crucible of the playoffs. However, I’m haunted of memories from the previous year. It is easy to discount the Knicks series because of the Tatum injury, but the defending champs were well on their way to losing that series before his injury made it official.
It boggles my mind that the core of a championship team is still in place, the roster that the Executive of the Year put together is still in place, and the presumed Coaching Staff of the Year is in place, and yet we’re sitting here after an epic collapse — the first series loss in history after being up 3 games to 1.
So much of this feeling of loss and frustration is tied to expectations. By now you know the story and you could write the rest of this paragraph verbatim. The Celtics headed into this year with zero expectations. Gap year. Develop the kids. Give Jaylen Brown a chance to be the main guy. See what happens with Tatum’s injury but don’t rush him back. Then everything started falling into place. The team achieved way above expectations. Just about everything that could have gone right went very right. The rest of the East looked entirely beatable. Tatum returned and looked so much better than anyone could have hoped. Everything was lining up and suddenly the Celtics were seen as one of the favorites (if not THE favorite) to win the East.
For 3 of the first 4 games of the series, everything seemed to be continuing down that road. But something happened along the way and here we are. Lamenting the missed opportunity and wondering what exactly happened. Those raised expectations make this all so much worse. We let ourselves believe. Mind you, there’s nothing wrong with that. Belief is healthy and good. I couldn’t be a fan without that belief. I know that many media folks say that at some point they leave their fandom behind and treat their subject like a job. I could never.
So, what now? Well, I guess we do what we always do. Take a minute to reflect and process, then start thinking about the next journey. What does the team do next? What are the needs on this roster? Are there bigger moves the team needs to consider? Who stays and who goes? Who’s available to add? What skills do players need to work on in the offseason. We’ll cover all of that and much, much more in the long months ahead.
However, as painful as the ending was, I’m going to look back fondly on this regular season. We learned so much about so many of the characters. Like any good story, there were ups and downs, trials overcome and adversaries vanquished. The team bonded together over board games and nicknames and a lunatic coach. It was tremendous fun to watch and the season was a joy.
The ending was abrupt and painful. I just hope that the next installment of the series provides us with a triumphant return to glory. Because belief is good, and its what we do. Go Celtics.
Magic
Pistons
Paolo Banchero
Donovan Mitchell