Coming into the season, expectations for the Boston Celtics were pretty muted. Not only had they lost a ton of talent over the summer, but they were also going to be without their best player, Jayson Tatum, for most of the season.
Accordingly, many experts viewed the Celtics as a .500 team that might make the playoffs if things broke right. Nobody expected them to be a top contender in the Eastern Conference.
And yet, that’s what they are. Through its first 24 games, Boston has shockingly emerged as one of the best teams in the NBA. The surging Celtics are 15-9, rank fifth in net rating and own the No. 3 seed in the East.
On Tuesday’s episode of “The Bill Simmons Podcast,” Simmons discussed Boston’s surprising start and how the team is overachieving.
Simmons cited several factors for the Celtics’ strong start, including Jaylen Brown and Joe Mazzulla.
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He called Brown “one of the best 12 to 15 guys in the league…having his best season ever.” Brown has taken his game to another level, averaging a career-high in points per game and emerging as an early MVP candidate.
Simmons called Mazzulla “an absolute lunatic,” which he apparently meant as a compliment given Mazzulla’s famous intensity and preparation.
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Simmons also highlighted the team’s drive, effort and motivation, which can’t be quantified.
“As I watch them game to game, if you go through their top 11, every single guy has something to prove,” Simmons said. “Every single guy has some sort of hunger for something.”
From Brown and Jordan Walsh to Neemias Queta and Josh Minott, everyone on the roster has something to play for and something to prove.
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Together, that collective energy and ambition have helped Boston defy the odds and be greater than the sum of its parts.
“There isn’t a single guy on this team who’s not like, ‘I’m so happy to be part of this,’ and you can feel it game to game,” Simmons said. “And I think that’s made the difference, because they’re going toe to toe against everybody.”
The Celtics are only 29 percent of the way through their schedule, so time will tell if they can maintain that intensity for the entire season. If they do, however, and Tatum comes back, they could be a problem in the playoffs.
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