The Celtics contain more multitudes than any title contender in recent memory given how long they've been in this position and the quality and diversity of their top-6. And they possess enough dominant ways to play to withstand a vintage Kyrie Irving performance. Read more »
The dominant conversation entering the Finals was the Best Team vs. Best Player debate, but the way the Celtics are forcing the Mavericks to work excessively hard on both ends on the floor is answering those questions. Read more »
The Celtics have had a frustratingly extended prologue, but they are three wins away from finally vanquishing it. Game 1 showed the greatness they're capable of achieving. Read more »
The Mavericks and Celtics are a pair of throughly modern teams, but in distinctly contrasting ways, which should make for an entertaining series and also a referendum on two models of team construction. Read more »
The Celtics finished in the top spot in Net Rating for the second straight season, while the Thunder jumped up from 28th to 14th to second. Read more »
Some names are bigger than others, but from Jaylen Brown and Luka Doncic to Donte DiVincenzo and Chet Holmgren, here are the 10 biggest playoff X-factors. Read more »
With Boston on the verge of getting summarily swept, Jayson Tatum, Jaylen Brown and Co. are getting plenty of criticism for their ineffectual play, but it's Joe Mazzulla who's become the lead character in this disappointment. Read more »
To believe that any of 2023's neo-contenders can become bonafide champs over the next few months is to believe that a once-in-a-quarter-century occurrence is about to transpire. The reality is there are only four real contenders. Read more »
Kevin Durant is fickle and shortsighted and a little bit tragic, the second-best player of his generation searching in vain for a single achievement that will certify him, in some cosmic sense. Maybe fleeing to Boston is the least imperfect solution. Read more »
Malcolm Brogdon gives the Celtics a marginal gain, which certainly could matter, but they will continue to be in a place where they will only go as far as Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown can take them. Read more »
While Golden State may have the higher ceiling than Boston, one never knows whether it will continue to rise or come crashing down. It comes down to what you value most: would you rather have reliable greatness or the ability to occasionally, and unpredictably, conjure magic? Read more »
Is Chicago willing to give up some of what it does well, and any of the people who currently define them, to beef up where they're sallow to compete with the jumbo teams in Milwaukee and Boston? Read more »
The Blazers and Celtics brought in new coaches to address questions that we may see to be more existential and personnel-based than strategic or cultural. Sometimes you're just putting a new face on the same disappointment, and sometimes that disappointment ossifies, and then morphs into something worse. Read more »
The guys that go into the Hall of Fame precede the current crop of players by a generation or several and their accomplishments have begun to acquire the smell of warehoused memorabilia. Read more »
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