Boston Celtics Advance To NBA Finals, Continue Dominant Playoff Run

The Boston Celtics have reached the 2024 NBA Finals, defeating the Indiana Pacers in a (competitive) sweep to claim the Eastern Conference belt.

Once again, as we’ve seen many times before, the Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown duo live in late May and June. They keep beefing up their playoff resumes year after year.

It didn’t matter that Boston was without starting center Kristaps Porzingis for a month, which seems to be ignored when discussing the quality of this playoff run. They still went 10-1 without their biggest offseason acquisition from last summer. That alone should frighten the rest of the league, including whoever escapes the West.

Brown was named the Most Valuable Player of the East Finals, notably for his clutch 3-pointer to force overtime in Game 1 and his 10 fourth-quarter points in Game 4.

This year was strictly about course-correction for Brown and the Celtics. They were outclassed last May by the Miami Heat, losing Game 7 on their home floor on Memorial Day. Brown had the toughest series of his life, averaging 19 points while shooting 7-of-43 from the perimeter and having more turnovers than assists.

One year later, also on Memorial Day, Brown delivered a gem. It was a firm reminder of how much a season’s worth of dedication to your craft can make a difference.

An argument can be made Brown was the Celtics’ best player for multiple stretches this year due to his intensified defense and cleaner decision-making with the ball. All of it has been showcased in the playoffs, when it matters most.

For this series, Brown averaged 29.8 points, five rebounds, and two steals per game. He shot 58.3% from two and 37.0% on threes, erasing the sour taste from last year’s defeat. It was the perfect response to those who questioned Boston for handing him the five-year, $286 million supermax last summer.

In most years, the MVP would’ve gone to Jayson Tatum, who had the best all-around series when you factor in his playmaking. But it was Brown who came through in the final minute to close out the Pacers — on both ends of the floor.

“I wasn’t expecting it at all,” Brown said about the honor. “You know I don’t ever win sh**. I was just happy we won. Give credit to Indiana, they played us tough. I know people think Indiana wasn’t a good team or whatever, but I think they were as tough as anybody we’ve played all season. They were physical and fast, and they put a lot of pressure on us.”

With 1:09 left in the fourth, tied at 102, Brown was matched up with Pascal Siakam on a halfcourt possession. Brown knew Siakam was coming to set a ball-screen for Andrew Nembhard, but had to guess the angle of the screen.

As Derrick White got wiped out by the screen, Brown quickly switched to Nembhard, who was darting toward the rim. He timed his jump perfectly, swatting the layup off the backboard and avoiding a costly foul:

His remarkable defensive stop allowed Boston a chance to regain the lead. Brown made sure his impact was felt on the next play, too.

“I think I’m one of the best two-way wings, guards, whatever you want to say in this game,” Brown said after the game. “I feel like this year, I’ve taken a (jump) and increased it. I took the matchups. Picked up guys full court, chased guys off screens, and battled with bigs. I felt like I should’ve been All-Defensive. That probably hurt me the most because that’s one of the things I set out (as a goal). But as time has gone by and I got to this point, I stopped caring. And I just embrace it.”

Just a few seconds later, Brown called for Jrue Holiday to set a high ball-screen, knowing Myles Turner would likely switch the action.

When Turner did switch, it forced the Pacers’ defense to load up in the middle of the floor. They anticipated Brown’s drive to the paint, which led to overhelping and leaving Derrick White open in the corner:

The Celtics improved to 4-0 in clutch scenarios during the postseason, which doesn’t exactly align with the narratives swirling around them all season.

Their offense looks like a mess late in games.

They take too many contested jumpers.

This team crumbles under pressure.

Brown and the Celtics have heard it all. And they’ve taken notes. For them, this series was about taking care of business and showing how calm, cool, and collected they can be in the clutch.

“I’ll give credit to our coaching staff,” Brown said. “We were very organized this year. We went over a lot of late-game situations. We’re always trying to think the game. We got to be in those positions. Everybody talks about what our late-game offense looks like, and I thought we had some great opportunities in this series to display that.”

In reality, Boston has owned crunch time in the playoffs, scoring 129.3 points per 100 possessions and going +18 in only 19 minutes.

For this series, it was good medicine for them to face a quick and physical team that tested their resilience on defense.

As Mazzulla has preached all year, the expectation for any team in sports can’t be to thrash the opponent and win by 15-plus in every game. That is, unless you’re the Durant-Curry Warriors, then it becomes more than a fair assumption.

Even if the competition wasn’t as strong, this playoff run allowed Boston the chance to see many different predicaments. They still had to problem-solve their way to 12 victories. And outside of the final two games of this series, every encounter provided something unique.

Mazzulla relished the fact Boston had three clutch-time performances in this series, knowing it can only prepare them for adversity that might come in the Finals.

“I think the guys did a great job just having an understanding that a game isn’t supposed to go a certain type of way,” Mazzulla said. “You got to find different ways to win. You have to learn to protect leads, gotta learn to come back from deficits, have to learn to execute in close-game situations, and you have to communicate adjustments. You just have to make plays and be tough-minded. As many different situations we could put ourselves in, heading into this last round, it’s important.”

Detractors will try to sneer at Boston’s achievement, pointing to the weakened conference or injured opponents they had to go through.

The path is the path. No team in NBA history has been able to choose their route, making sure they only face healthy opponents in the first three rounds.

Plus, have we considered that nobody remembers (or cares about) a team’s path to the Finals after a few years? Use the table below as an example. When is the last time anyone mentioned the degree of difficulty for these teams who made the Finals?

Teams that start the playoffs 12-2 or better have won the championship 76.5% of the time. For the groups that also carried an average point differential of +10 or higher, it’s an 80% success rate.

The Celtics fall into the latter category, considering they have a +10.3 net rating during this playoff run when you exclude garbage time possessions. That’s more than double the next-highest team left in the playoffs.

Boston is now the fifth team in NBA history to begin a playoff run 6-0 on the road. They have — once again — joined elite company. It’s a group that includes some of the most impressive teams in basketball history, particularly the 2017 Warriors and 2001 Lakers:

Three of the four previous teams to accomplish this feat ultimately hoisted the Larry O’Brien Trophy. The only one that didn’t, the 2017 Cavaliers, ran into an indomitable force — those Durant-Curry Warriors weren’t losing to anyone, even the ghost of Michael Jordan and the 1996 Bulls.

Regardless how you slice it, the Celtics are approaching undeniably territory.

Out of the 96 total games Boston has played since October, they have won 79.2% of them. To reach their goal, they just have to win four out of the next seven.

Al Horford, who is approaching the all-time record for most playoff games without a championship ring, will get a chance for redemption.

“You can’t really put it into words. He’s just a guy who is … the best. His leadership, his poise and intensity when he brings it to a different level, it’s contagious. He’s an inspiration and people just look up to him. I’m grateful that we have him and I’m really happy for him. Just the sacrifices he’s made throughout his entire career. To get another shot at (the Finals) is big.”

With Porzingis’ return on the horizon, a lot of the frontcourt burden is about to be lifted from Horford’s shoulders. He played 40 minutes in Games 1 and 4 of the East Finals, which is wild for a center that’s about to turn 38 years old.

They won’t take the Mavericks or Timberwolves lightly next week. Not after how the 2022 Finals unfolded. Leading 2-1 with homecourt advantage in that series, the Celtics know they let it slip away.

There’s a different level of motivation with this group, though. Despite having a window that’s wide open for years to come, the urgency is still extremely high.

Behind Brown and his leadership, stepping up to fill the void Marcus Smart left in the locker room, they’ve been dialed in since training camp.

“We didn’t skip any steps all season,” Brown said. “I think we’ve played the right way, every single game. I’ve held everybody accountable. And this is the byproduct.”

Teams leading 3-0 in a playoff series have now closed out their opponent 155 consecutive times, with no team overcoming that deficit in a best-of-seven matchup. The Mavericks will look to extend that record on Tuesday night as they currently lead 3-0 in the West Finals.