Compared to last season, the Boston Celtics haven’t been quite where they want to be this year. Fans have been upset with the consistency of the team, as they haven’t strung together a three-game win streak since the very start of 2025. In fact, they’ve been hovering around .500 for the past couple of months.
Despite the fact that the Celtics have been one of the better offenses and defenses in that span, they’re still losing games. Their fourth-quarter numbers have been subpar, and they aren’t shooting the ball as well as they should be based on their past numbers.
But one of the biggest reasons for Boston’s struggles this season doesn’t seem to be in discussions anywhere.
Teams are guarding the Celtics differently this season
Last season, the Celtics steamrolled their way to an NBA Championship behind a rock-solid defense and a flurry of threes. This year, other teams around the league have adjusted.
Jaylen Brown detailed the change after Boston’s recent win over the Chicago Bulls.
“I think they're trying to get us off the three-point line,” Brown said. “I think we shot the ball astronomically last year, so this year, teams are trying to force us into tough threes or get us off the three-point line, and we just got to balance it. When to shoot it, when to drive and get into the paint, because it's a lot different when you make the defense collapse and kick it out versus just passing it around in the perimeter.”
When the Celtics first built their current roster last season, nobody around the league had any idea what they were dealing with. Even by the time the playoffs rolled around, squads had to learn on the fly, especially when Kristaps Porzingis was out for most of the postseason.
Now, teams have had a full season to watch the Celtics and an entire summer to game plan. This is no longer a brand-new team. Other squads around the league have a much better idea of how to guard Boston.
The Celtics’ three-point volume is up this season, but their percentage is down, and as Brown noted, their opponents are trying different things to slow them down from beyond the arc.
Last season was complete domination, but a big part of that was the element of surprise. No one really knew how the Celtics were going to play.
But now, with a long time to readjust and reconfigure, the rest of the NBA has a better understanding of how to defend Boston. And the results have been a slightly less dominant season for the guys in green.