The NBA’s 82-game common season is commonly referred to as a marathon. Groups should tempo themselves with the intention to keep recent, keep away from damage, and never succumb to the highs and lows of wins and losses. However what if each mile is a 100-meter dash? No less than that’s how briskly everyone else is operating it at on that exact night time when the Celtics are on the town. What if each night time is the opposing crew’s Tremendous Bowl in opposition to the defending champs? What if everyone else makes use of you because the measuring stick? Beat Boston and possibly, “yeah, we’re able to contend for a Larry O’Brien trophy.”
On an evening when the Celtics got here into Detroit on a six-game successful streak with the Pistons on a seven-game run of their very own, a 117-97 blowout loss humbled the 2024 NBA champions, however that’s been par for the course all 12 months.
“I believed it was nice,” head coach Joe Mazzulla mentioned of getting each crew’s finest shot each night time. “I don’t assume it essentially takes a toll. I believe it presents a possibility… It’s not as a lot of a toll as it’s a duty. It’s a praise. It’s important to be a to execute on that, you’ve acquired to ship on that on a regular basis.”
After successful in Toronto the night time earlier than and lacking Jaylen Brown (thigh contusion) and Luke Kornet (private causes), final night time was not a kind of occasions. Even a scorching capturing night time from behind the arc (21-of-49) couldn’t overcome 17 sloppy turnovers that became 24 factors and a 62-20 margin within the paint.
That’s not to remove from the Pistons. That was not the crew that the Celtics had beat thrice already this season, together with a 24-point drubbing at TD Backyard in December. They’re nasty defensively and with younger studs like Cade Cunningham and Jalen Duren coming in to bloom, Detroit isn’t only a crew that Boston ought to fear about within the common season, however a formidable foe come playoff time and positively within the years to come back.
However that’s additionally the lifetime of a defending champ and one which the Celtics absolutely embrace.
“Over latest years, we’ve gotten everyone’s actually good shot. Now, on a nightly foundation, we get everyone’s finest shot. We’re the usual,” Jayson Tatum mentioned after scoring 27 factors within the dropping effort. “Any champion in NBA historical past, the following 12 months, they’re the usual. Guys are attempting to get what they’ve. There’s loads of duty with that.”
Kristaps Porzingis when requested concerning the variations between final season and this one for the Celtics:
“We now have to hunt once more. We wish to win one other championship and we’ve to be looking once more. However the season is lengthy. We’re working in the direction of one thing. We wish to peak on the… pic.twitter.com/zknYQdC0Al
— Bobby Krivitsky (@BobbyKrivitsky) February 27, 2025
The Celtics now return to Boston for a seven-game homestand the place they’ll host a assassin’s row of groups that wish to knock them off their pedestal. On Friday, the Cavaliers come into city trying to even their season sequence. The Nuggets, Lakers, and Thunder go to the parquet from out west, too. With 20+ video games remaining, the league is prepared for his or her weigh-in.
So, how do you react because the hunted?
“We now have to hunt once more. We wish to win one other championship and we’ve to be looking once more,” Kristaps Porzingis mentioned. “The season is lengthy. We’re working in the direction of one thing. We wish to peak on the proper second.”
