Luck of the Irish: Boston Celtics Surpassing Expectations

Written by William Richardson Jr.

When the Boston Celtics opened the 2017 season, many people had them finally getting over the hump and winning the East, and maybe even win their 19th NBA Championship.

Just off the top, they had the number one seed in the Eastern Conference last year, made it to the conference finals, and though they lost, they retooled. They added Jayson Tatum from the draft, then lured Gordon Hayward away from the Heat and Jazz, then shocked the NBA world by getting Kyrie Irving in a trade and sent Isaiah Thomas to the Cavs in return.

This team was ready to contend in the East. And had no foundation-shaking flaws. The major question was could a fully healthy C’s team beat LeBron and the Cavs….

And then the first game happened.

Gordon Hayward’s leg went from 0 to 100 real quick. He ended up with a fractured tibia and a dislocated ankle at the same time. Their season almost looked lost from the first game. Sports Twitter lost their collective minds.

Then they settled down. Won a lot of games in a row (16 to be exact), and now this team has the best record in the NBA at 20-4. Whether it’s Kyrie Irving snatching people’s ankles, Jaylen Brown proving he has a bright future, Jayson Tatum providing quality minutes as a rookie starter, or Al Horford still being consistent game after game, this team just wins.

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If defense wins championships, then this team might be holding up the Larry O’ Brien trophy come June. Any time you can hold teams to under 100 points a game, you can always be in contention to win a game when it matters. But to be first in the NBA in opponent points per game AND first in defensive rating?

That’s a special team. Offense can come and go, but defense is forever. And with solid defenders like Brown or Marcus Smart on your team, you can have a great chance to win if they can lock down the other team’s best option.

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Also, through 25 games, Brad Stevens deserves way more credit as a coach. Not only was he able to handle losing almost everybody from the year before (only 4 of the 15 players from the team that went to the Eastern Conference Finals are still there: Smart, Morris, Brown, and Horford), but he was able to add of the top three point guards in the league, plug him in, and help the team be better out the gate this year.

And above all, this team is insanely young. One of their starters just got the right to vote last year, and the other couldn’t legally drink in Las Vegas when he was there in the offseason. Then nine of the other 13 players on the team are younger than 25. And they have the potential to be a super scary team come April.