BOSTON — When the Boston Celtics started 0-3, nobody panicked. “Well, if we shoot it how I know we can shoot it, then it's probably two games now that we win,” Payton Pritchard said after Boston’s loss to the Detroit Pistons, their third straight to start the year. “So, everybody would be acting a lot different if we were 2-1 right now. So, it'll come.”
Fast forward 21 games, and the Celtics are 15-9, good for the three seed in the Eastern Conference. Their offensive rating (122.0) is second-best in the NBA, and though their defensive rating (114.8) sits at 17th, they’re allowing the third-fewest points per game (110.6).
Everything has changed—from bottom seed to gunning for home-court advantage in the playoffs—yet internally, the Celtics are the same.
Celtics don't feel any different than they did at 0-3
As a team, they’re exactly who they were two months ago.
“Even when we lost our first three games a year, I said once we figure it out, we'll be all right. But I think the approach is still the same,” Pritchard said at practice on Wednesday. “It's just like, every game, every day, are we taking a step of getting better? So, even if we go on a run of winning the next five or losing the next five, are we taking the right steps?
“Don't look at the result of the wins and losses. Are we looking at the result of, are we getting better? Are we going towards our goal of what we want to be? So, that's the mission, and that's all we're focused on.”
Derrick White and Pritchard’s three-point slump at the beginning of the year hindered Boston’s ability to find results. They struggled from deep range, and the Celtics ended up playing in a bunch of close, 50-50 games.
Since the results have begun to match the process more consistently, the Celtics’ place in the standings has reflected that change.
And with that, Joe Mazzulla has changed, too.
“I mean, you're always going to adjust to your team based on A, how we're growing, and B, the point of the season that you're at,” Mazzulla said at practice. “And so, you're never going to coach the same that you do at the beginning of the year as you will in the middle. I think you're constantly, because your team's evolving, you're evolving as well. At the end of the day, we've kept our competitive character, we've kept our willingness to want to get better, and we chip away at the things that we got to get better at.
“Our identity, the details, the execution, all those things that go into it. The guys have done a good job. just having an understanding of what Celtics basketball looks like, what gives us a chance to win every night, and how much can we do that?”
NBA Power Rankings, talk shows, and the national media have all changed the way they’re talking about the Celtics. Their steady climb up the Eastern Conference standings has shifted the narrative.
But they’re the same team they’ve been all season long.
They’re just learning.
“Obviously, we've been getting wins, and that feels good, but I think through it, through the losses and the wins, we've been getting better and better and better,” Pritchard said.