Are there shades of the 2019 disaster season in the current Celtics team?
The Boston Celtics are off to a terrific start to this season, but not everything has looked pretty. Most notably, the Celtics’ two-game losing streak last week to the Philadelphia 76ers and Minnesota Timberwolves highlighted potential cracks in the foundation. In the last week, potential signs of the 2018-19 team that featured the biggest failure in recent Celtics memory, started to show.
For those who don’t remember, the 2018-19 Celtics had one of the deepest teams in the NBA and a starting five that featured Kyrie Irving, Gordon Hayward, Jayson Tatum, Jaylen Brown, and Al Horford. Despite the elite talent, chemistry was the biggest issue and it prevented the Cs from winning a championship.
Ultimately, I wonder, how real are those signs of the 2019 team?
The signs that I noticed early on that point me to believe parts of 2018-19 exist are too many mouths to feed and Brown's ego. The too many mouths to feed is important to look at because the Celtics have the best top six in the NBA. With that, comes Horford coming off the bench and the rest of the core having to dole out shots and minutes.
Although the Celtics have started the season strong, I think there have been struggles with the top six.
Brown has struggled the most due to Kristaps Porzingis having a dynamic offensive start to the season. With the hot start from Porzingis, Brown has struggled to find his groove in games, especially in the loss to the 76ers where he only scored 11 points. Also, at times it appears that Brown has been forcing the issue offensively because he feels it’s his turn.
Luckily, the Boston Celtics' chemistry issues dissipating
Despite the potential negatives I highlighted, there have been recent updates that point to chemistry not being an issue. It seems that Brown is starting to adapt to sacrifice, and he is growing an excellent bond with Porzingis. If Brown is truly committed to sacrificing and even being the third option on some nights, the Celtics will be in great shape.
Kristaps Porziņģis on chemistry with Jaylen Brown: "We're still in the beginning stages because I think our chemistry, it's just going to get so much better. Like, I'm telling you, you're just going to see, like. it's going to get a lot better. But I love playing with him."
— Jared Weiss (@JaredWeissNBA) November 12, 2023
As the season progresses, Celtics fans should monitor the overall chemistry and egos of the team with the 2018-19 season in mind as an example of what not to be.
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