Brad Stevens Gets First Signature Playoff Series

Brad Stevens finally gets his first signature playoff series with the Boston Celtics

The Boston Celtics have surprised a lot of people with their ability to make the payoffs over the last three seasons, despite being at the very beginning of the rebuild. Brad Stevens built a reputation on getting under talented teams to overachieve, and it lead to early playoff action that very few saw coming, at least that quickly.

This season, however, it is a bit different. Danny Ainge himself spoke about how the Celtics are still a work in progress and have work to do before they can be true title contenders. That being said, the Celtics were expected to be a top three seed coming into this season, and after securing home court to the Finals, expectations changed. The Celtics may not have been favorites in the East, but they knew their talent was good enough to go on a deep playoff run.

In the first two playoff series in the Stevens era, the Celtics were horribly over matched, and the Cavaliers swept them, albeit with some competitive games on the way. Then they drew the Hawks the next season. This matchup was much closer, but it became clear that the Celtics once again were a step behind. They were tied in the standings, but it became apparent that finishing that high was part of the over achieving in the regular season.

Until this season, the Celtics had not gone through a truly even matched playoff series. Those playoff series were strictly a learning experiencing, allowing one of the youngest core of players to see what it is like to compete in the playoffs, even if their very best could never be enough. Those first two stints were short lived, but it gave these players some much need experience.

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As soon as the Celtics started their series against the Washington Wizards you knew something was different. The Bulls series was the other side of what they had gone though in previous years. The Celtics were clearly the superior team, and as soon as they started playing like themselves they won four straight against them for another non competitive series.

This Wizards series has been back and fourth every step of the way, and has been memorable for a lot more reasons. This is the first seven game series for Stevens and this majority of this Celtics core, and this is the series where they can show how far they have come as a team.

The bad blood has been real every step of the way with these two teams. The hard screens, chirping and next level pettiness has made this the most interesting series of the playoffs, and one that this core of players will not soon forget.

One of the more distinguishing factors of this series is how inconsistent both teams have been. It is one thing to get by a series when everything goes well. That has been far from the case for both these teams. The Celtics have played miserably in all three loses. The Wizards blew double digit leads in two of their loses.

Both of these teams will be going into game seven feeling as though they have sold themselves short so far. Both teams will be going in knowing that even if LeBron James is waiting in the Eastern Conference Finals, failing to get there is something everyone involved will remember for a long time.

For Brad Stevens in particular, this series can be a testament to the marvel that he has been. Stevens has taken a lot of risks with his series. Stevens has been changing the rotation on the fly in each game. No player is getting the same kind of minutes from one game to the next, putting his adaptability and the versatility of the team to the test.

This is the first series that Stevens has really left his imprint on and, one way or another, this is the series everyone will talk about when discussing his playoff success in the earliest stages of his career. Stevens has to adjust to a lot of the issues and he has to find ways to avoid the slumps that have lead to 20+ point runs. Not everything has worked, but the fact that Stevens has managed to get something positive out of each player that has seen the court speaks volumes about his understanding of how to get the best out of his players.

Stevens has made his share of mistakes. It took too long to settle into the starting rotation, and it lead to a lot of miserable starts. Stevens, however, was never stubborn. His continual willingness to change everything and anything in order to get into a better position has left the Wizards searching for answers on multiple occasions.

In every way, this is the most memorable playoff series for this core of Celtics, and that starts with Brad Stevens. It is these even matched series where things do not go perfectly with the players that you are able to see what kind of an impact a coach actually has. In the end, it will always come down to the players executing, but the way Stevens has been changing his rotation puts a lot more responsibility on his shoulders.

Any kind of speculation about a hot seat is beyond laughable at this point, but this is the first playoff series that can offer real insight into what Stevens can do in the playoffs. Stevens has already left his mark on the regular season. No one has questioned his ability to get his players to win more games than expected in the regular season.

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In those first three playoff series, Stevens’ impact would always be minimized because of how lopsided they were. Now that the Celtics are enduring the first truly memorable and intensely competitive playoff series, Stevens has been given an opportunity to leave the kind of mark on this franchise that has been impossible in previous years.

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