Quarter-season check-in: Is Celtics’ ceiling higher than we thought?

Quarter-season check-in: Is Celtics’ ceiling higher than we thought? originally appeared on NBC Sports Boston

One quarter of the way through the 2025-26 NBA season, it’s time to reset expectations for the Boston Celtics.

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Over a span of 10 days, the Celtics have posted wins over Orlando, Detroit, Cleveland, and New York — the four betting favorites to emerge from the Eastern Conference. Half of Boston’s 12 total wins have come against those four teams.

The East is a cluttered mess with no dominant frontrunner. The Raptors and Heat have lingered near the top of the conference while largely feasting on inferior opponents. The Celtics sit an unremarkable eighth in the East at the quarter mark, but that’s due in part to letting some wins slip away against the likes of Brooklyn, Utah and Philadelphia.

The Celtics are one of five teams withs seven or more wins against opponents with a .500 record or better. The others? West-leading Oklahoma City (7-0), East-leading Detroit (8-3), Denver (7-2) and Orlando (7-7).

Boston is 7-2 over its last nine games, and there have been a bunch of encouraging signs.

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Jaylen Brown is playing like an MVP candidate. Neemias Queta has one of the best on/off differentials in the entire league (a team-best +15.3). Jordan Walsh has been a game-changer since entrenching himself in the starting lineup with his grit and tenacity. The Celtics have the fourth-ranked offense in the entire league, even as Payton Pritchard and Derrick White struggle to find their typical shooting efficiencies.

Joe Mazzulla is pushing all the right buttons lately, and the Celtics are leaning into small-ball lineups that maximize their skill and versatility. Boston still needs to tighten up its rebounding, which has conspired against a defensive rating that sits in the back half to he NBA, but the Celtics rank seventh overall in halfcourt defense and simply have been gouged by putbacks.

That’s all our long-winded way of suggesting that the Celtics might be more in the mix in this mishmash East than most expected. Trade season officially opens in less than two weeks, and Brad Stevens might…

Source link : https://sports.yahoo.com/articles/quarter-season-check-celtics-ceiling-092651759.html

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Publish date : 2025-12-04 09:26:00

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