We were all riding a wave of emotion yesterday. A 16-year wait for an NBA Championship had finally come to an end. Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown proved they can win at the highest level together. Jrue Holiday’s championship pedigree was on full display. Kristaps Porzingis fought through the pain barrier to be available.
Al Horford is a champion. A deserving one at that. Sam Hauser completed his journey from undrafted rookie to core bench piece on a championship team. Payton Pritchard’s patience after his struggles last season paid off.
Every single name on the Celtics roster had a personal mountain to overcome. And every name on the Celtics roster played their role in overcoming those mountains collectively.
With emotions running high, I opted not to post a newsletter. I wanted everyone to enjoy the moment in their way — including myself.
It’s been a long season, but it’s also been a great season. Game 5 wrapped everything up nicely. However, the habits and mindset instilled throughout the 82-game run gave the Celtics a platform to dominate the playoffs. We can’t point to Game 5 and claim that is where the title was truly won.
As Giannis Antetokounmpo famously said…It’s steps to success.
Today, we will look at 5 of those steps in the form of “Magic Numbers” from the postseason run.
11
The Celtics played 19 postseason games. They held their opponent to under 100 points in 11 of those outings;
- Miami Heat (Game 1) - 94 points
- Miami Heat (Game 3) - 84 points
- Miami Heat (Game 4) - 88 points
- Miami Heat (Game 5) - 84 points
- Cleveland Cavaliers (Game 1) - 95 points
- Cleveland Cavaliers (Game 3) - 93 points
- Cleveland Cavaliers (Game 5) - 98 points
- Dallas Mavericks (Game 1) - 89 points
- Dallas Mavericks (Game 2) - 98 points
- Dallas Mavericks (Game 3) - 99 points
- Dallas Mavericks (Game 5) - 88 points
When Ime Udoka was leading Boston, he earned a ton of praise for his work in making the team a defensive juggernaut. Mazzulla has built on that foundation over the last two seasons but has rarely received the same respect or praise.
Mostly, the Celtics were a dominant defensive team — with or without Porzingis.
