Celtics News

[Goldstar88]

Lot of talk about the 2 vs. 3 seed. I won't lie, I don't really care about it because of how postseasons have gone for the Celtics in the past decade. Hell, even last year, they went 1-2 at home in the Knicks series. They've also had brutal losses at home to eliminate them (ex. 2022 Finals Game 6, 2023 ECF Game 7, etc. etc.)

And I'm usually someone who wants HCA, but this team has proven it can win big games on the road, and also lay duds at home in the playoffs. I think the best thing for this team for their long term goals is to just get Tatum acclimated and for the team to stay mostly healthy going in. We can still beat NY even without HCA, as long as Tatum is close to 90-100% and everyone else is mostly healthy too.

I do think there's a decent chance we'll be the 3 seed, because the Knicks remaining schedule is very easy. But I won't really be panicking unless guys get hurt or in a few weeks Tatum still looks rough. The main downside might be a first round series with Orlando instead of MIA/ATL, but then again ATL has looked red hot lately and I still think ORL will have trouble scoring at will given some of their issues, although it'd be a grind. Who knows, maybe TOR slips to 6 and ORL moves up?

It's really a toss up between the 5-10 seeds. They're all within 2.5 games. The Celtics' first-round opponent would be just as difficult as the Knicks in the second round.

Toronto- would be an interesting matchup.
Atlanta and Charlotte- hella hot, esp the latter.
Orlando- a physical team and a rematch with them could boil things.
Miami- that bully team that seems to always play Boston tough as long as Eric Spoelstra is leading that squad.
Philadelphia- A healthy Embiid, Paul George, and VJ could pose a threat. That iconic duo just exploded for 63 points in their first game back together.

I don't see Cleveland dropping that badly nor would they overtake the 3 seed.

I think as long as we don't play Charlotte first round, we're good lol. ORL/PHI/ATL can give us some fits but I don't worry about losing a series to them. We won't lose to Charlotte either but CHA also feels like a team that'd play with nothing to lose and push us to 6 or maybe even 7

Toronto is currently the 6 seed. If we end up 3, I would LOVE that matchup, that series really wouldn't worry me

Think I?d rather play Atlanta, but definitely 1A/1B.

[ozgod]

On a lighter note, the Celtics enjoyed a team day out at the Brazil-France soccer friendly at Gillette on Thursday, the day before the Hawks game. JT did the coin toss...look how tall he is compared to Mbappe and Casemiro 


https://www.instagram.com/reel/DWZcrS4gpqL/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link&igsh=NTc4MTIwNjQ2YQ==

Here's the Boston.com writeup.

Jaylen Brown signed jerseys, Jayson Tatum did the coin toss, and the Celtics enjoyed an outing at Gillette Stadium on Thursday during the friendly soccer match between France and Brazil ahead of the World Cup.

France, which benefitted from a goal by star forward Kylian Mbappe, topped Brazil 2-1.

Celtics rookie Hugo Gonzalez swapped jerseys with Mbappe before the game.

?It was great,? Gonzalez said of meeting Mbappe. ?He?s a great person, obviously, and an amazing player. He played well the other day so I just met him in the morning and then he scored in the evening. Maybe I gave him a little bit of luck, even though he didn?t need it.?

Celtics coach Joe Mazzulla said there are some parallels between basketball and soccer.

?The first goal of the game was off a counterattack on a turnover in the middle of the field,? Mazzulla said. ?So, it?s the same (as basketball). You can?t turn the ball over. You?ve got to value possession and get more shots than the other team. Which, Brazil did get more shots, but the counterattack, possession in the midfield (are) kind of similar. Little stuff like that.?

While Mazzulla enjoys taking lessons from other sports and applying them to basketball, this trip was more about the Celtics taking the time to bond with each other, he said.

?That was mostly us doing something together,? he said. ?Guys take different things, have different experiences from it, but that was us just as a team doing something together and being a part of that. It was a good time.?

Gonzalez said soccer is the biggest sport in Spain, where he grew up. He did not grow up playing the sport, but he enjoys it. He didn?t care who won, but he noticed that Mazzulla was rooting for Brazil.

?He was diehard for Brazil, I think,? Gonzalez said, ?It wasn?t the result that he wanted, that?s for sure. But he likes soccer a lot. We share that passion, I would say, so it was great.?

https://www.boston.com/sports/boston-celtics/2026/03/28/world-cup-friendly-match-at-gillette-was-an-amazing-off-day-field-trip-for-the-celtics/?p1=hp_featurestack

[Phantom255x]

If the Thunder beat the Knicks today, the C's will be 3 games up on them in the loss column

NY has 7 games left after today, the Celtics have 8.

[Neurotic Guy]

If the Thunder beat the Knicks today, the C's will be 3 games up on them in the loss column

NY has 7 games left after today, the Celtics have 8.

Thanks for pointing that out - I didn't know Knicks were in OKC tonight.  And didn't know it's on NBC.

[Phantom255x]

If the Thunder beat the Knicks today, the C's will be 3 games up on them in the loss column

NY has 7 games left after today, the Celtics have 8.

Thanks for pointing that out - I didn't know Knicks were in OKC tonight.  And didn't know it's on NBC.

I didn't know that part either lol

[Goldstar88]

"I didn't feel like I was sped up," Jayson Tatum told reporters in Charlotte. "I was still kind of tired, so that's something I'm still working through. But I like that I'm being decisive in my movements and exploding when I need to [and] reacting. Obviously, it helps when you make shots. I can say I feel better than I did last game. Hopefully, I feel better in the next game than I did today." Tatum became the youngest player in Celtics history to reach 14,000 points. "I've been fortunate enough to be on some really good teams, be surrounded by some really good players and coaches on the staff that have empowered me and helped me become the player I am today," he said.
ESPN

[slamtheking]

https://www.espn.com/nba/story/_/id/48315335/nba-2025-2026-playoff-kryptonite-opponents-avoid-eastern-western-conference
geniuses at ESPN giving Celtics a lower chance to make the conference finals than Detroit, NY and Cleveland.  Other than their usual anti-Celtic bias, I can't see how they give Cleveland a higher chance to make the conf finals over Boston when Cleveland is going to have to go through Detroit who they've given the best odds of getting to the conf finals. 

also gave the C's the lowest odds of those 4 teams to get to the conf semi-finals. 

morons

[Donoghus]

https://www.espn.com/nba/story/_/id/48315335/nba-2025-2026-playoff-kryptonite-opponents-avoid-eastern-western-conference
geniuses at ESPN giving Celtics a lower chance to make the conference finals than Detroit, NY and Cleveland.  Other than their usual anti-Celtic bias, I can't see how they give Cleveland a higher chance to make the conf finals over Boston when Cleveland is going to have to go through Detroit who they've given the best odds of getting to the conf finals. 

also gave the C's the lowest odds of those 4 teams to get to the conf semi-finals. 

morons

Also found it a bit perplexing that they identified the Pistons as the opponent to avoid and not the Knicks. 

Opponent to avoid: Detroit Pistons

If the Celtics don't score in transition, then they'll need to maximize their opportunities in the half court. But the Pistons could make that difficult, as they boast by far the best half-court defense in the East, according to Cleaning the Glass; only the Thunder have a better half-court defense. Whether the Pistons' wings are up to the task of defending Tatum and Jaylen Brown for a full series remains to be seen -- all four matchups between the teams came before Tatum's return -- but at the very least, they'd force Boston to grind out every possession. -- Kram

[Roy H.]

https://www.espn.com/nba/story/_/id/48315335/nba-2025-2026-playoff-kryptonite-opponents-avoid-eastern-western-conference
geniuses at ESPN giving Celtics a lower chance to make the conference finals than Detroit, NY and Cleveland.  Other than their usual anti-Celtic bias, I can't see how they give Cleveland a higher chance to make the conf finals over Boston when Cleveland is going to have to go through Detroit who they've given the best odds of getting to the conf finals. 

also gave the C's the lowest odds of those 4 teams to get to the conf semi-finals. 

morons

This team thrives on bulletin board material.

[Goldstar88]

https://www.espn.com/nba/story/_/id/48315335/nba-2025-2026-playoff-kryptonite-opponents-avoid-eastern-western-conference
geniuses at ESPN giving Celtics a lower chance to make the conference finals than Detroit, NY and Cleveland.  Other than their usual anti-Celtic bias, I can't see how they give Cleveland a higher chance to make the conf finals over Boston when Cleveland is going to have to go through Detroit who they've given the best odds of getting to the conf finals. 

also gave the C's the lowest odds of those 4 teams to get to the conf semi-finals. 

morons

This team thrives on bulletin board material.

Exactly. More please! 

[Celtics2021]

https://www.espn.com/nba/story/_/id/48315335/nba-2025-2026-playoff-kryptonite-opponents-avoid-eastern-western-conference
geniuses at ESPN giving Celtics a lower chance to make the conference finals than Detroit, NY and Cleveland.  Other than their usual anti-Celtic bias, I can't see how they give Cleveland a higher chance to make the conf finals over Boston when Cleveland is going to have to go through Detroit who they've given the best odds of getting to the conf finals. 

also gave the C's the lowest odds of those 4 teams to get to the conf semi-finals. 

morons

Also found it a bit perplexing that they identified the Pistons as the opponent to avoid and not the Knicks. 

Opponent to avoid: Detroit Pistons

If the Celtics don't score in transition, then they'll need to maximize their opportunities in the half court. But the Pistons could make that difficult, as they boast by far the best half-court defense in the East, according to Cleaning the Glass; only the Thunder have a better half-court defense. Whether the Pistons' wings are up to the task of defending Tatum and Jaylen Brown for a full series remains to be seen -- all four matchups between the teams came before Tatum's return -- but at the very least, they'd force Boston to grind out every possession. -- Kram

It was based on their kryptonite, which was the article?s theme this week.  The Celtics are last in transition points (their quote-unquote kryptonite), so naturally the Celtics should wish to avoid the Pistons, who have a conference-leading half-court defense.

The Celtics were one of Detroit?s teams to avoid, so the article reads weirdly if you don?t look at it from the weakness vs. strength perspective.

[Donoghus]

Great news!

Boston Celtics
@celtics
?
5m
I want you to put the word out there that he back up 🗣️

[slamtheking]

https://www.espn.com/nba/story/_/id/48315335/nba-2025-2026-playoff-kryptonite-opponents-avoid-eastern-western-conference
geniuses at ESPN giving Celtics a lower chance to make the conference finals than Detroit, NY and Cleveland.  Other than their usual anti-Celtic bias, I can't see how they give Cleveland a higher chance to make the conf finals over Boston when Cleveland is going to have to go through Detroit who they've given the best odds of getting to the conf finals. 

also gave the C's the lowest odds of those 4 teams to get to the conf semi-finals. 

morons

Also found it a bit perplexing that they identified the Pistons as the opponent to avoid and not the Knicks. 

Opponent to avoid: Detroit Pistons

If the Celtics don't score in transition, then they'll need to maximize their opportunities in the half court. But the Pistons could make that difficult, as they boast by far the best half-court defense in the East, according to Cleaning the Glass; only the Thunder have a better half-court defense. Whether the Pistons' wings are up to the task of defending Tatum and Jaylen Brown for a full series remains to be seen -- all four matchups between the teams came before Tatum's return -- but at the very least, they'd force Boston to grind out every possession. -- Kram

It was based on their kryptonite, which was the article?s theme this week.  The Celtics are last in transition points (their quote-unquote kryptonite), so naturally the Celtics should wish to avoid the Pistons, who have a conference-leading half-court defense.

The Celtics were one of Detroit?s teams to avoid, so the article reads weirdly if you don?t look at it from the weakness vs. strength perspective.

it wasn't a particularly intelligent article when it says that Detroit is the team the C's need to avoid and the Celtics are the team that Det needs to avoid.  if a team should avoid another it's because they have a real uphill battle to win that series then one of them being a team to avoid for the other makes sense but not going both ways.  basically says that neither has the other's number which was supposedly the point of the article

[Donoghus]

https://www.espn.com/nba/story/_/id/48315335/nba-2025-2026-playoff-kryptonite-opponents-avoid-eastern-western-conference
geniuses at ESPN giving Celtics a lower chance to make the conference finals than Detroit, NY and Cleveland.  Other than their usual anti-Celtic bias, I can't see how they give Cleveland a higher chance to make the conf finals over Boston when Cleveland is going to have to go through Detroit who they've given the best odds of getting to the conf finals. 

also gave the C's the lowest odds of those 4 teams to get to the conf semi-finals. 

morons

Also found it a bit perplexing that they identified the Pistons as the opponent to avoid and not the Knicks. 

Opponent to avoid: Detroit Pistons

If the Celtics don't score in transition, then they'll need to maximize their opportunities in the half court. But the Pistons could make that difficult, as they boast by far the best half-court defense in the East, according to Cleaning the Glass; only the Thunder have a better half-court defense. Whether the Pistons' wings are up to the task of defending Tatum and Jaylen Brown for a full series remains to be seen -- all four matchups between the teams came before Tatum's return -- but at the very least, they'd force Boston to grind out every possession. -- Kram

It was based on their kryptonite, which was the article?s theme this week.  The Celtics are last in transition points (their quote-unquote kryptonite), so naturally the Celtics should wish to avoid the Pistons, who have a conference-leading half-court defense.

The Celtics were one of Detroit?s teams to avoid, so the article reads weirdly if you don?t look at it from the weakness vs. strength perspective.

it wasn't a particularly intelligent article when it says that Detroit is the team the C's need to avoid and the Celtics are the team that Det needs to avoid.  if a team should avoid another it's because they have a real uphill battle to win that series then one of them being a team to avoid for the other makes sense but not going both ways.  basically says that neither has the other's number which was supposedly the point of the article

Yeah, that made zero sense