by Everyone tells you how difficult it is to win a championship, but what happens after having won-when champagne stops flowing and invincibility fades?
You find yourself playing 82 playoffs, having to bring together a higher intensity than most good teams, or decide when using this energy tank which is not an unlimited supply.
The classification shows that the Boston Celtics are at a defeat of their total of 18 compared to last year, when they circumvented the whole season and the playoffs, barely affected or disputed on the path of the claim of banner n ° 18.
Their 17th defeat this season came in a mist for the aggression of Detroit, the dance of Motown and the Sampling while the Pistons Unistart won their eighth consecutive match, putting the NBA in opinion with an impressive victory of 117-97 against the Celtics on Wednesday evening at the Little Caesars Arena. It was undoubtedly the biggest home match of the regular season of the franchise since the 2007-08 season, when they faced the Celtics Allen Allen by Paul Pierce-Kevin Garnett at the Palace of Auburn Hills in an overview of the final of the Eastern Conference.
Last Wednesday, the Celtics were not ready for the emotional assault that the pistons brought. Youth and the improvement of Strait were obvious from the lines of opening lay-ups, the players feeling an opportunity for more skins on the wall.
This is not the case for each match, but there is an additional motivation for each team opening its doors to the Celtics on visit or by entering the Boston TD garden this season. Whether the Celtics realize it or not, they play two games in one, almost every evening. Mental and physical fatigue is just as intimidating as real competition.
There is a reason – not the biggest, but a factor – the NBA has not had a repeated champion since the Stephen Curry -Kevin during Golden State Warriors in 2017 and 2018. It is the longest stretch of the NBA since the start of the NBA since the early 1970s.
“We have to hunt again. We want to win another championship, and we have to hunt again, “Kristaps Porziņģis said last week in Detroit. “But you know, the season is long.”
Porziņģis was undoubtedly the last piece of the puzzle of the Celtic championship last season, with Jrue Holiday. His health was a problem throughout his career, but when he is right, the versatility he provides makes them apparently unbeatable.
Last year, the Celtics took place 43-14 in the 57 games he played. This year, the Celtics have a 20-12 sheet, with the majority of his inactivity at the start of the season while he recovered from an ankle injury he suffered in the NBA final last June.
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“We are working towards something, we want to peak at the right time,” said Porziņģis, who was measured and calm after the defeat of the team at Detroit. “We do not want to react excessively to a loss, but with each loss, we can learn something and take something. Tonight is not different.”
ALL-STAR JAYLEN BROWN was raised from the previous night, and the Celtics seated it. It was one of those nights he needed. Jayson Tatum had the annoying swingman Ausar Thompson in his chest all night, and not that Tatum was really negligible (he had four reversals), but there were no other creators of Prime Minister on the ground to mitigate the pressure.
Tatum figures are almost identical to those last season, with slightly decreasing shooting percentages, but everything else holds the shape. Brown has improved its creation of games, while its shooting gained a slight decrease of 3.
As long as these two are standing, the Celtics have a strong chance.
“I think we have a great continuity,” said Celtics coach Joe Mazzulla. “I think that’s what you trust throughout the season. (Brown), he puts his body on the line despite everything and sometimes you have to save guys from themselves. And this is the best for everyone and the best for the team. And you trust continuity during the season. »»
It was one of these nights, at the end of a consecutive road with matches against the contenders for the title Cleveland and Denver who lean at home. Cleveland has overcome a huge deficit to shock the Celtics on national television, in a boon for his hopes of title, while the Celtics took care of the business against the Nuggets two nights later – again, on national television.
“It’s a bit of (everything). You play against teams trying to win a title, “said Tatum last week. “All count. So you never become too high or too low. “”
The game of riders means much more in certain eyes because they are probably on a collision trajectory to meet during the finals of the Eastern Conference, in a revenge match of the second round series of last year, which the Celtics easily won.
But the riders are real challengers, and the series of the season ended with the two teams winning two games each. In today’s parity economy, however, there are many more competitors at this time of year than usual.
Mazzulla, whose unique oddities believe how much he was a coach for this team, seems to consider changing alignments and hostile energy in arenas as opportunities as opposed to obstacles.
“This is not a assessment as much as a responsibility we are talking about,” said Mazzulla. “It is a compliment, which we have to execute and deliver.”
The Milwaukee Bucks are still hiding, having found a rhythm after the deadline for the trade. The New York Knicks are potentially explosive, but the Celtics managed them during their three meetings this year.
And if they were to return to the final, the Western Conference is full of hope, from the thunder of the conference to the climbing Lakers – which they play in another marquee game on Saturday evening – to the aforementioned Nuggets and even to the Golden State Warriors, who made a race since the Celtic Jimmy Butler trade.
Since the writing of Tatum and Brown, they have always been in the championship conversation, which has made the conference final in the past four of the past five years. But it’s a little different to be the champions.
“You have to be there,” said Tatum. “In recent years, we have had everyone from everyone. Now at night, we get the best blow of everything. We are like the norm. You win the championship and it is with any champion in history. The following year, they were the standards and the guys try to get what they have. Our responsibility therefore comes with it.
They carried the crown well, even with the lulls. One thing that separates them from the recent vintage champions is continuity, both in style and in staff. The Nuggets lost critical pieces in Bruce Brown and the veteran Jeff Green after winning the title 2023. The Warriors 2022-23 had chemistry problems at the training camp.
The Bucks de Milwaukee 2021-2022 probably had the best chance of repeating on paper, but health reprimanded their offer, because it would be so thin of any person with margins in today’s game.
The eight best Celtics scorers have returned this season, and Payton Pritchard played a more important role as the first candidate for the sixth prize of the man of the year – he dropped a career in a career of 43 against Portland, striking 10 to 3 rush points, while Derrick White added 41. Pritchard was formerly a player with low royalty, now he is an essential element repeated.
Last year, the Celtics were sufficiently experienced, now you are wondering if this year they are old in certain places. The holidays will be 35 years old when the finals take place and have been faced with harassed injuries, more recently a nervous problem on the right shoulder. Porziņģs still has injury problems and Al Horford is 39 years old.
But … they are still one of the best teams at both ends, third in offensive and fifth efficiency in defense. This is generally a prerequisite for compression, regardless of the record. And as they did under Mazzulla, the Celtics launch more than 3 than anyone, less than 2 than anyone – and that is probably what will determine his fortune.
Last year, the Celtics beat everyone with mathematics. This year, they will have to be more cunning to beat a new series of challengers.
