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How this year's Celtics compared to 2024 championship squad originally appeared on NBC Sports Boston

The 2023-24 Boston Celtics steamrolled their opponents en route to Banner 18, cruising to the No. 1 seed in the Eastern Conference and posting a 16-3 record in the playoffs.

While they’ve remained one of the NBA’s top teams during their title defense, the road to a repeat won’t be a cakewalk.

Unlike their predecessors, the 2024-25 Celtics weren’t the most dominant team in the league, or even their own conference. The Oklahoma City Thunder owned the best regular-season record at 68-14 to claim the top seed in the Western Conference, while the Cleveland Cavaliers edged out the 61-21 Celtics for the top spot in the East with a 64-18 finish.

Boston dropped both of its regular-season matchups against Oklahoma City and split its season series against Cleveland, 2-2.

Statistically, the 2024-25 Celtics came up short in nearly every major category compared to the 2023-24 championship squad. Aside from a slight edge in opponent points per game, this year’s team only surpassed last year’s in 3-point attempts and makes. (They set NBA records in both categories.)

The 2023-24 Celtics led in points per game, rebounds, assists, field goal percentage, 3-point percentage, offensive rating, defensive rating, and net rating.

Of course, while they may not be the juggernaut like the championship group, the 2024-25 Celtics still should be considered a heavy favorite to win it all. Their only rough patch of the season came in December and January, when they went a mediocre 11-9 over a 20-game span with a 3-8 record after wins. Since Jan. 25, Boston has rediscovered its championship identity with a 30-7 record.

As reigning champs, the C’s have excelled despite having a target on their back. Superstar Jayson Tatum has embraced the unique challenge of defending a title.

“It’s been a lot of fun, honestly, this year,” Tatum said before the team’s penultimate regular-season game against Charlotte. “Bringing everybody back besides Oshae (Brissett), we have such a joy and a connection with each other. There was some tough moments, but with one game left in the season I can say that everybody has felt valued, everybody has played a part in our success this season, everybody understands the common goal that we share, and we know who we are. We know who we are individually, we know what we bring to this team and to make it what it is, and we have so much fun doing what we do.

“We realize when you’re on special teams, and you’re with special guys, you just try to cherish those moments. The season goes by fast, but it’s been a fun one so far.”

The No. 2 seed Celtics will meet the winner of Tuesday’s NBA play-in tournament showdown between the No. 8 Atlanta Hawks and No. 7 Orlando Magic in Round 1 of the playoffs. If they advance, they will meet the Detroit Pistons or New York Knicks in the East semifinals.

Game 1 at TD Garden is scheduled for Sunday, April 20 with the tip-off time to be determined.

Tatum joins Larry Bird as only Celtics to accomplish this rare feat originally appeared on NBC Sports Boston

Boston Celtics forward Jayson Tatum played arguably the best basketball of his career this season, and he made some team history in the process.

Tatum led the C’s in total points (1932), rebounds (623), assists (431) and steals (76). As a result, he joined Larry Bird as the only players to lead the Celtics in all four categories during a single season multiple times.

Tatum also accomplished this feat in the 2020-21 campaign.

Tatum led the C’s with 26.8 points, 8.7 rebounds and six assists per game this season. He has scored 26-plus points per game in five consecutive seasons. His 250 made 3-pointers were the most of any forward in the league this season. No other forward made more than 200.

The 26-year-old superstar should make first team All-NBA for the fourth straight season. The last Celtics player to do that was Bird, who made All-NBA first team in eight straight seasons from 1979-80 through 1987-88.

Regular season success is great, but Tatum and the Celtics have higher goals.

The 2025 NBA playoffs begin this weekend, where the C’s will try to repeat as champions.

Boston’s first-round opponent will be the winner of the No. 7 vs. No. 8 play-in tournament game between the Orlando Magic and Atlanta Hawks.

The 2024-25 regular season is a wrap for the Knicks. After a 113-105 win on Sunday afternoon against  the Nets, the Knicks finished third in the East with a 51-31 record. The Knicks had a relatively predictable season. Jalen Brunson led the team in scoring for a second consecutive season, Mikal Bridges played all 82 games again and the years-long debate of Tom Thibodeau’s rotations and minutes distributions continued.

There were a few surprises from this year's team that stood out from New York’s regular season that weren’t expected at the season’s start.

Free-throw merchant

OG Anunoby has never been a foul magnet. In the first seven seasons of his career, Anunoby averaged 2.1 free-throw attempts per 36 minutes. That trend continued at the start of this season, but a massive shift has occurred over the final month.

Anunoby has averaged 4.7 free-throw attempts per 36 minutes in the last 18 games. His freebie uptick has been mainly due to driving into the paint with a head of steam. Anunoby’s also attacked mismatches in the post and established a gather step move that draws fouls on a regular basis.

OG with the slam! 💥 pic.twitter.com/YCkSXFfKoy

— Knicks Videos (@sny_knicks) March 20, 2025

The free-throw boost from the Knicks’ demon has led to a boost in scoring (22.7 points) during this late stretch. Anunoby was relatively quiet offensively in New York’s two recent losses to the Boston Celtics and Cleveland Cavaliers. If the Knicks are going to exceed expectations in the postseason, the club will need him to continue being aggressive.

Three-point averse

When the Knicks acquired Karl-Anthony Towns and Bridges this past offseason, the thought was that the Knicks would be able to launch three-pointers on a regular basis. Towns specifically is one of the most efficient three-point shooting big men in NBA history.

However, that wasn’t the case this season. The Knicks don’t take threes often. New York was 26th in three-point attempts per 100 possessions this season.

Despite the limited hoists from beyond the arc, the Knicks finished the season eighth in three-point percentage, converting 36.9 percent of their long distance attempts. One of the reasons for New York’s top-five finish in offensive efficiency was the team’s three-point shooting accuracy. There’s no reason the Knicks can’t get up more threes. The club features eight rotation players that shot over league-average (36 percent) this season.

The team’s shot diet is geared more toward the midrange: 7.8 percent of New York’s points came from the midrange, fifth in the league, per NBA Stats. If the Knicks advance to a second round showdown with the Celtics, outside shooting will be a significant conversation. In Boston’s 4-0 sweep of the Knicks in the regular season, the Celtics attempted 65 more threes.

Bench positives

The Knicks bench is thin. All season, New York’s reserves have been last in the NBA in scoring by a wide margin.

But when the bench is on the floor, New York is winning. Surprisingly, the highest net rating on the team during the regular season belongs to Cameron Payne. During the backup point guard’s minutes, the Knicks have outscored teams by 9.1 points per 100 possessions. In second place is Miles McBride (plus-7.1 points per 100 possessions).

The two reserve guards have played a considerable amount with Towns, which has yielded positive results. In 353 minutes together, the trio has outscored opponents by 12.0 points per 100 possessions according to PBP Stats. There is some noise to those numbers. Payne and McBride have played heavy minutes in the early stages of the second and fourth quarters when other teams have their bench units on the floor too.

But it does show that the Knicks bench isn’t as much of a weakness when looking beyond raw stats like points scored.