MINNEAPOLIS, MN - MARCH 15: Jaylen Brown #7 of the Boston Celtics walks off the court after the game against the Minnesota Timberwolves at Target Center on March 15, 2023 in Minneapolis, Minnesota. The Celtics defeated the Timberwolves 104-102. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and or using this Photograph, user is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. (Photo by David Berding/Getty Images)
The 2023-24 Boston Celtics, led by Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown, are a juggernaut.
Entering Thursday’s matchup with the Denver Nuggets, they’re outscoring opponents by an average of 11.2 points per game. And that’s after a gut-wrenching loss to the Cleveland Cavaliers on Tuesday.
That point differential may sound like a lot (and it is), but you can’t fully appreciate it without a little context.
Those are all-time great teams. Those are teams led by Jerry West, Wilt Chamberlain, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Michael Jordan, Stephen Curry, Kevin Durant, Kawhi Leonard and Tim Duncan.
And there are these Celtics. Right in the middle. Among the all-timers and cruising toward, potentially, a sixth Eastern Conference Finals appearance for Brown, a fifth conference finals appearance for Tatum and a second NBA Finals appearance for both.
And of course, they hope they’re on the way to the first title for Boston since 2008 (and the 18th in franchise history).
That point differential and the fact that they’re first in points scored per 100 possessions and third in points allowed per 100 possessions suggest they can get there, but we’ve seen the foundation of this team buckle in the past.
Of course, none of those previous five conference finals appearances preceded a championship. Just last year, they lost that series to the eighth-seeded Miami Heat. Since the start of the 2017 Eastern Conference Finals (Brown’s first), the Celtics are minus-43 in Brown’s conference finals minutes.
Because of the organization’s history, Boston’s campaigns are almost always of the title-or-bust variety. The recent history of Tatum and Brown, along with the way the arrivals of Jrue Holiday and Kristaps Porziņģis have supercharged the team, ratchets up the pressure on this group.
Ultimately, they’ll be judged on what they do in April, May and, potentially, June.
But if we’re just looking at regular-season performance, there’s an argument that even the great Celtics teams of the past have never seen anything quite like this.
You’ll notice that Boston is only listed in that top 10 above one time. It’s for this season (the 2007-08 squad that won the title is 11th). Obviously, that means the Celtics are on pace for the best point differential in franchise history.
