There are those who believe the 2023-2024 Boston Celtics are armed with everything they need to bring home NBA championship banner number 18 and hang it in TD Garden Arena – their home court where they were a blistering 37-4 during the regular season.
Boston, owners of the NBA’s best record (64-18) and the League’s top scoring offense (123.2 points per game), sent a message in Sunday’s opening round playoff game against the scrappy, but short-handed Miami Heat.
Celtics star guard Jayson Tatum notched his first career playoff triple-double with 23 points, 10 rebounds and 10 assists to power Boston past Miami 114-94 on Sunday afternoon.
Game 2 is Wednesday night at 7 p.m., in Boston.
For better or for worse, Boston understands the minute the NBA playoffs began, they would be stalked and hunted by every opponent they face – including the overmatched Heat, who competed in Game 1 without star guards Jimmy Butler (knee) and Terry Rozier (neck). With all due respect to the Celtics, who played brilliantly from start to finish, Sunday’s game had a completely different feel without Butler, whose postseason heroics keyed Miami’s run from play-in qualifier to NBA Finals participant a year ago.
The fact that Miami didn’t have one of the game’s best players at its disposal on Sunday and may be without him for the remainder of the postseason cannot be overstated.
Butler is an All-Star.
He is a difference maker.
He is the guy who makes the Heat go…just like Tatum is the conductor and leader of Boston’s high-octane offense.
Tatum, 26, played in his 95th career NBA playoff game in Sunday afternoon’s win.
He is the undisputed leader of a team that got remarkably better last summer for a number of the reasons, including the front office’s decision to not just stand pat and hope that Boston’s glaring defensive deficiencies that doomed them in previous playoff series’ would somehow just miraculously correct themselves. And while the Celtics were good the last few seasons, they’ve vastly improved in 2024. The off-season acquisitions of Kristaps Porzingis and defensive specialist/sharpshooter Jrue Holiday have given the Celtics arguably the greatest starting five in the NBA when you add Tatum, brilliant backcourt mate Jaylon Brown and guard Derrick White (20 points, four assists vs. Miami on Sunday). The strong emergence of reserves Payton Pritchard, Sam Hauser, and Luke Kornet, along with the veteran presence of 17-year center Al Horford, make Boston one of the deepest teams in the NBA.
While the talent is there, so is their health and their drive.
The Celtics were overly cautious with Porzingis, a 7-foot-2 injury-prone center who has missed his share of games over his nine NBA seasons. He missed 25 games this year with calf and ankle issues but much of that time missed was precautionary.
The Celtics are rested and hungry, two key factors that played a role in Sunday’s Game 1 win over Miami and will be key factors if the Celtics are serious about making a return trip back to the NBA Finals.
Boston beat the Heat in all three regular-season meetings this season, including a 33-point drubbing in Miami.
The Celtics starters, who had not played a game in 10 days, had no issues of rust or complacency on Sunday, opening the game with a 17-2 scoring barrage.
The Celtics, who got 30 points from their bench, fed off the energy of the home crowd, knocking down 22 3-pointers and outscoring the Heat 31-14 in the third quarter. They grew their lead to as high as 34 points in the fourth. Miami used a late run to get as close as 14, but Boston was able to close it out.
Including the regular season, Boston is 38-4 at home and has won its past four meetings against the Heat.
Critics and supporters of the Celtics have been consistently saying all season that this Boston team is constructed to win a championship this season.
And if Tatum continues to step up, elevate and lead Boston to an NBA title, he will undoubtedly cement himself as one of the greatest Celtics ever to step foot on the parquet floor and be permanently regarded as one of the top five players in the NBA.
It’s all there right in front of the Celtics…red-hot offense, stifling defense, rebounding, terrific young coach, capable bench and playoff experience.
But if banner number 18 is to make its permanent home in TD Garden Arena, Tatum must lead the charge. He doesn’t have to do it all by himself, but he has to lead the way. That’s what the great players do in the playoffs. They lead by example, make everyone around them better and do what’s necessary – whatever the cost – to win.
