Crazy But True: At The Midway Point Of The Season, The Boston Celtics Are One Of The Best Teams In The NBA

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Well folks, if you can believe it, we're already at the midway point of the NBA season. Feels kind of crazy right? Then again, everything has sort of been a blur for me and my brain since May 12th, 2025, especially when it comes to the Boston Celtics.

Heading into this season, it was impossible to know what was going to happen, because so much of it was dependent on the unknown. Established champions moving up into new roles, rotation players getting the nod who had quite literally never played any sort of meaningful NBA minutes in their lives, and it wasn't just one or two guys either. It was more like 3 or 4. A head coach who had to make it all work, despite a severe dropoff in talent. These were just all things we'd never had to deal with before in this era, so it was impossible to know what to expect. For the first time in nearly a decade, we were going to see Celtics basketball without Jayson Tatum, a player who since the day he arrived, has been the sun that all things orbit when it comes to this team. 

If you were optimistic, you weren't crazy.

If you were skeptical, you weren't crazy

If you thought they would be good but flawed, you weren't crazy

If you thought this was going to be true tank season, you were maybe a little crazy but with one or two injuries, it was on the table

Well, now here we are. A 41 game sample of evidence to help us evaluate what it is we've seen over the last 3+ months. The answer? We were ALL wrong. All of us. Those who thought they'd win in the mid 40s and be a 4-6 seed, you were wrong. Those who thought they'd win in the high 30s/low 40s and a Play In spot? Wrong. Those who thought this was going to be a 20-win team? Wrong.

Why?

Because objectively, the 2025-26 Boston Celtics are one of the best teams in the NBA. Period. Fact. Even if you believed the East was trash and the Celts would be good, nobody, not one person alive, thought this was what we were going to see. And I get it, some may consider me extremely biased when it comes to this topic, so I will do nothing but lay out the facts of what we've seen up to this point of the season:

- At 26-15, the Celtics have the 6th most wins in the NBA and the 2nd most in their conference

- They sit comfortably in the #2 seed

- They own the 2nd best offense in the NBA

- They own the 2nd best net rating in the NBA

- They own the 3rd best point differential in the NBA

- They own the most wins vs teams .500 or better in the NBA

- They own the most road wins in the East and the 2nd most in the NBA

- They own the 3rd most 20-point wins, 2nd most 30-point wins, and are t-1st in 40-point wins

- They allow the 2nd fewest points per game in the NBA, and 1st in the East

- They are on pace for 52 wins, which is the 5th highest in the NBA

It's truly remarkable. What we've seen this season does not really exist in NBA history. You don't lose 5 of your top 9, including 3 7fters and YOUR BEST PLAYER who just so happens to be a perennial top 5 All NBA talent, and still put together one of the strongest title contender profiles in the entire NBA. Sorry, not normal! 

Back in October, I think most fans were ready for a season of vibes. Wins would be cool, losses not the end of the world given the context of the season, and for the first time in well over 10 years, there wasn't this "title or bust" pressure or expectation. It was a weird place to be as a fan after 10 straight years of contention. It took a while for my brain to get used to, that's for sure.

Fast forward to now, and if someone were to read you that resume of a team, what would you say? You'd say that team is one of the best teams in the NBA and a title favorite. If you closed your eyes and someone read off that list to you, that's the only logical place for your brain to go. 

Now you remember one other important piece.

Giphy Images.

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Which other team in the NBA with this profile gets to add a top 5 player to the mix? Because with each passing day, the return of Jayson Tatum is becoming more and more real. I've always felt that Tatum's return has always been about where the Celts were as a team, and if they were floating around the Play In that it made little sense to bring him back. Well, how about when they are legit contenders AS IS and one of the best teams in the league? Yeah, once he gets the thumbs up from the medical staff, it's time to add this demon to the mix. No other contender in the NBA can say they are adding this type of talent at the trade deadline. Just think about that for a second. 

What's been crazy about the first 41 games is the fact that everything we had a question about heading into the season has not only been a hit, but they've been legit massive successes. Those unproven players? Every single one has hit. From Walsh to Garza to Minott to Baylor to Hugo, every single one of them has thrived in their role and opportunity. We were all hoping 1-2 of them would hit, and they've all hit. The question of guys like Queta/DWhite/Pritchard elevating their roles? Hits, especially Queta. This dude went from the 4th big on the roster to a legit starting caliber center. Jaylen Brown handling the #1 option responsibility? Hit. Joe Mazzulla figuring things out with a severe drop in talent? MAJOR HIT. 

Again, we were hoping for just a handful of these things to happen back in October…..and they've all happened? I don't recall anything like this ever happening before. We've seen teams have a few breakout players or surprises, but every single player who touches the floor? Insanity.

Alright, we have a lot to get to, let's dive in.

The Good

- Per the blog rule book, if you are a Celtics player and you do something on the basketball court that we've only seen be done by Larry Bird and Jayson Tatum, we begin with you. Jaylen Brown, come on down!

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41 points in 29 minutes is legitimately insane, and the only other Celtics to have ever done some shit like that are Tatum and Larry Legend. Let's just sit back and let that marinate for a second.

OK, everyone feeling good?

There's nothing like some home cooking, and it was clear from the jump that Jaylen was going to be super aggressive in this matchup. The Hawks had zero defenders that could handle his physicality, and given that the last few Jaylen games have been stinkers, I loved seeing that mentality. He took a shit ton of shots in those 29 minutes (30 FGA), but finished 14-30 while also going 11-12 from the FT line, so who gives a shit. I didn't really have too many issues with his offensive approach, mostly because the TOs were down (1), and scoring for this team has been such a struggle as of late that Jaylen backpacking things early is exactly what a #1 option should be doing. 

His 18 points on 6-13 (5-6) in the 1st quarter is what helped set the tone, and from there the Celts never really looked back. This was a game that had 1 lead change and 0 ties, with the largest Celts lead being 43 points. Jaylen got the avalanche started, and from there it was belt to ass for the remaining 3 quarters.

- As a sucker for NBA history, I couldn't help but love watching Sam Hauser become the first player ever to go 10-21 from the floor, and every single shot being a 3PA. I love how that box score looks, I love how mad it makes the haters and losers of which there are still many when it comes to the Celtics playstyle, and I love that he shamelessly went for the team 3PM record becasue at the end of the day, why wouldn't you?

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30 points, 10 3PM, and only 5 dribbles. That was some Klay Thompson-level shit if we're being honest. I was actually surprised Hauser didn't break the record because some of his final looks were pretty clean, but Marcus Smart survived another challenger. I love the fact that Marcus owns the record, but now that Hauser has hit 10 3PM on multiple occasions as a Celtic, you have to feel like he's eventually going to break through.

Every once in a while, Hauser gives us this level of magnet ball against a mid team, and it's a reminder that special shooters like him are not normal. It's why I really can't get behind putting Hauser in any sort of trade for a random depth big. This spacing and shooting next to Jayson Tatum is extremely valuable. Sam Hauser is a lifetime 40% shooter, and when he gets rolling like he did last night, the ball doesn't even come close to touching the rim. It's ridiculous.

And while the shooting is getting all the headlines, I urge you not to overlook the defense that Hauser is playing. That's probably what I've loved most about his recent stretch. He's playing his ass off on that end of the floor, and to think of how much he's grown defensively is yet another reason why I think you need to hold onto him. You're getting good defense and 40% 3P shooting on high volume for $10M a year. That's insane value.

- Last night you witnessed the highest scoring quarter in Celtics history. Their 52 points in the 2nd quarter is the most any team in franchise history has ever scored, and to say these feel like 2K numbers doesn't really do it justice. What even is this?

This is why I consider the Celtics to be one of the most hilarious teams of all time. This is a team who we JUST SAW have multiple games in which they could barely score 4 points in half a quarter. Those are real things that happened.

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Then out of nowhere, a 52 point explosion on 76/73% splits and 11 3PM? Hilarious team. While most of that was Hauser, don't overlook the Ant production in that frame. It was his early shotmaking that got things rolling, and he had yet another extremely solid performance off the bench as well

Another 14 points on 5-10 (4-8) off the bench, Simons' heater is showing no signs of slowing down. With each game, he looks more and more comfortable in his role and there's a clear understanding where everyone sort of knows the deal when he makes his first jumper that it's time to feed him and let the Anferno develop. Then, BOOM. It all happens so quick you don't know what the hell just hit you.

I have no idea what Brad Stevens is going to do, so there's a real chance we're only going to get a handful of Simons' heaters before the deadline, but I dunno man. I want to see this skillset next to Jayson Tatum. It stinks to start to get attached to something that might be ripped away from us in a few weeks, but regardless of what happens, I will look back fondly on the Simons' Celtics Era if this is in fact coming to an end here shortly. 

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- The Hawks don't really have a frontcourt, so it's no surprise that both Queta and Garza pretty much had their way. A solid 14/7 on 5-7 for Queta and another solid showing off bench for Garza. Considering the frontcourt was largely considered the worst in the NBA heading into the season, the growth that both Queta and Garza have shown so far this season is truly remarkable. Not only are they serviceable, but they're legitimately good.

I think we've all been waiting for the other shoe to drop on these Garza minutes….and they just keep being awesome?

- If you think my brain isn't going to dangerous places every time Hugo does some cool shit, you sir, are a moron

- 132 points, 50/42% splits, 22 3PM on 52 3PA, 27 AST. That my friends, was about as vintage Mazzulla Ball as you're ever going to see. To the surprise of exactly nobody, the Celts won by a billion. Imagine that! 

- Not a huge scoring night for DWhite which was more than fine, because he instead used his minutes to do everything else. The 12 AST and 1 TO was about as good as it gets, and we had multiple plays where we saw the patented DWhite sprint back on defense to force a tap from behind steal on an unsuspecting Hawk. I LOVE that fucking play. We get 1-2 a game, and it's everything that makes Derrick White a perfect player and a perfect Celtic. There is NO QUIT in his game, and that shit is contagious.

The Bad

- Overall, 16 TOs as a team is a tad high for my liking. There really wasn't a main culprit, nobody had like 5 or 6 or anything like that, but the deep bench did have some ball security issues down the stretch. I admit I am searching for something here, but let's not pretend like 16 TOs is an acceptable number. It's a tad high. 

- Not that this is anything new, but I did find it pretty damn annoying that against a team with no real size the Celts had major issues on the defensive glass for large stretches of this game.

In the end, the Hawks finished with 13 OREB / 20 2nd chance points, and the annoying part of that is the fact that it was another game where we saw the Celts play some great initial defense. The only problem is that initial defense doesn't mean dick if you can't finish the possession off cleanly. It didn't bite them in the ass in this game, but we've seen their defensive rebounding already cost them a handful of games this season.

Part of me thinks it's why we only saw Walsh for 10 minutes and Garza for 12. Whether it was Okungwu or Krispert crashing, this was not the best collective effort on the defensive glass that I've ever seen, especially early.

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- I know Amari Williams is destined to be a legit Celtics big because he's already dealing with the bullshit Celtics whistle. You combine that with a rookie whistle, and I felt like he was getting boned in his minutes. He had some nice moments when it came to his passing and his rim protection, I just need the whistle to not be so terrible in his minutes. We've waited all year to see him play, let him play!

The Ugly

- A 43 point lead usually doens't leave a lot for this section, so I guess the only thing that sort of hits is Hauser's brutal 2-12 and inability to get the record? Maybe the 15 points scored in the 4th quarter? Whatever, we don't need to force it. Celts were great last nightt.

And now, we turn the page to a massive, massive showdown on Monday night. The Celts head to Detroit to face the Pistons, who also won by a billion last night over the Pacers. The two best teams in the East, two teams who have had awesome games against each other this season, it doesn't get much bigger than this in mid-January. #1 vs #2, and a chance for the Celts to split the season series against the 1 seed…..without Jayson Tatum. Very relieved last night wasn't a look ahead loss, and if you come out of Monday night with a win? We might need to start having serious conversations about who the best team in the East actually is.