The Boston Celtics are starting down the home stretch of the season. They’re not exactly on pace to have the same record as last year, but the 60-win mark is still a possibility, though the one seed likely isn’t. The Cleveland Cavaliers are a bit too far ahead of them, though the Celtics have built a nice lead on the New York Knicks in third.
Boston has played both of those teams well this year. They’re up 2-1 in the season series against the Cavs and have dominated the Knicks en route to a 3-0 record. But that doesn’t change how much they will have to focus in the playoffs.
And that’s where the latest batch of Celtics news comes into play.
Jaylen Brown doesn’t want to give rivals fuel
After the Celtics’ 118-105 win over the Knicks on Sunday afternoon, Gary Washburn of The Boston Globe asked Jaylen Brown about teams building their squads to guard him and Jayson Tatum. Washburn asked if it motivated him.
“Absolutely,” Brown responded, offering nothing else with his answer.
When prodded for more, Brown gave a coy response, almost as if he didn’t want to give teams any bulletin board material.
“I don't think I need to explain why, but it does,” Brown said. “So, we'll be ready. Just the playoffs, just want to be healthy. The Cavs, the Knicks, they're good teams. So, anything can happen. We got to focus on the details, but I'm looking forward to it.”
Josh Hart gets fined $2,000 for flop
The Celtics laid a beatdown on the Knicks on Sunday. It ended in a 13-point win, but the Knicks scored a bunch of fruitless points in garbage time.
And after the game, the news got even worse for Josh Hart, who got hit with a $2,000 fine for this flop vs. Jrue Holiday.
Josh Hart fined $2,000 by league office for flopping pic.twitter.com/FjXfYv7zd7
— New York Basketball (@NBA_NewYork) February 24, 2025
Jayson Tatum offers perspective on NBA
Washburn used the same line of questioning with Tatum. And while Tatum also didn’t want to give out any motivation, he did offer some interesting perspective on how teams have transformed to beat the reigning champions throughout the years.
“It's just the responsibility you have when you win the championship,” Tatum said. “When the Warriors were going [with] their run, teams were building their team to compete with them. When Denver won the championship, Minnesota built that team to kind of beat Denver. So, there's a responsibility that comes with, you're the Champs and you're the standard. Guys or teams try to build their team to compete with that style of play, or whatever it may be.
“But the most important challenge that we have is, we [need to] just focus on us. It's no guarantee who we're gonna play in the playoffs, but we'll be up for the challenge, whoever we play. Our biggest motivation is just with ourselves and being the best version of us and just trying to get a little bit better every day.