The Boston Celtics are once again a fun team to watch

After the first half of Wednesday night’s game, the Boston Celtics were trailing the Milwaukee Bucks by a score of 58-42; a 16-point deficit. Unexpectedly, Boston outscored Milwaukee by 20 in the 3rd quarter, securing a crucial 116-105 victory.

Wednesday night’s win was a breath of fresh air for Boston Celtics fans, myself included. Through the first four games of the season, I’ve come to a very entertaining realization: this team hasn’t been this much fun since the 2017-2018 season, at the least. If last year’s team was put in that situation, the game would have been over at halftime, and they would have probably lost by at least 20 points.

But they didn’t.

This Boston Celtics team, without starters Jaylen Brown and Enes Kanter, showed they have fight. Coach Stevens went to practically an eight-man rotation, playing Kemba Walker, Jayson Tatum, Gordon Hayward, and Marcus Smart all 38 or 39 minutes.

Originally, it was thought Jaylen Brown had to make a big impact on the game if the Celtics wanted to have a chance. He had been their best player through the first three games. However, when he was ruled out with an illness before the game, Smart picked up his offensive workload, hitting five crucial threes.

Boston forced 15 Milwaukee turnovers, while only committing nine themselves. That combined with the rebound battle — one that ended with both teams accumulating 45 rebounds each — put Boston in a great position to sneak out with a hard fought win.

Coach Stevens looked to the likes of Marcus Smart and Semi Ojeleye to try to slow down reigning MVP Giannis Antetokounmpo, and they did an exceptional job. Holding the reigning MVP to 22 points on only 13 shots is about as good as you can ask for, considering the Celtics are lacking a rim-protecting Center.

Khris Middleton had to have his traditional insane shooting performance in TD Garden, scoring 26 points on 10-15 from the field. However, the Celtics overcame his hot hand, as wings such as Smart and Tatum did a great job of denying him the ball in the second half.

For the offense, Smart, Tatum, Walker, and Hayward combined for 97 of the team’s 116 points. If Boston can get that performance out of its starters, they will be set for a deep playoff run.

One point of concern is the bench. With Jaylen Brown out, the bench got worse because of the addition of Marcus Smart into the starting lineup. The Boston Celtics will need to have a consistent bench scorer to help their second unit offense (**looking at you, Carsen Edwards**).

This role could also go to Enes Kanter when he gets healthy, making Daniel Theis or Robert Williams the permanent starting Center.

You can just see it – the players on the Celtics are having fun again. From Jayson Tatum high-fiving Celtics legend Paul Pierce on the sideline, to Marcus Smart getting into fights with Giannis Antetokounmpo, Boston is once again enjoyable to watch.

There are no reports of the Celtics players hating each other, no awkward post-game interviews, no throwing teammates under the bus. Boston Celtics fans have put their full confidence in star point guard Kemba Walker to change the locker room.

And it’s working.

Celtics fans didn’t expect to come back from the first half deficit considering everything that transpired last year. But this team is different. This team likes each other. This team has a leader.

This team makes Boston Celtics fans love basketball again.