Celtics secure fifth straight 50-win season — can this core chase the franchise record?

Boston fans know the team is in another golden age of contention.

But how long can it last?

The Celtics secured their fifth consecutive 50+ win season since 2021-22 with a 114-99 win over the Charlotte Hornets on Sunday night — the franchise’s 38th season with 50+ wins and its fourth time hitting that mark at least five seasons in a row (the most of any team in the league.)

Advertisement

That alone puts this run amongst some of the greatest prolonged stretches of contention in NBA history.

I mean, sure, the team hasn’t won 11 championships in 13 years like the Bill Russell Celtics or racked up 18 consecutive 50+ win seasons while winning five rings like the San Antonio Spurs.

Nevertheless, it is a rare accomplishment for NBA teams to win 50+ games in at least five straight seasons. Out of 30 teams in the league today, 14 have never done it (15 if you don’t count the Seattle Super Sonics’ history for the Oklahoma City Thunder.) That includes the New York Knicks and Atlanta Hawks — originally the Tri-Cities Blackhawks — despite being two of the league’s 11 founding franchises alongside the Celtics.

That includes historically bad teams like the Charlotte Hornets and the Washington Wizards, but it also features teams that have had dominant stretches over the years, like the Miami Heat, Denver Nuggets, Indiana Pacers and Houston Rockets.

Advertisement

Overall, at least five consecutive seasons of 50+ wins has only been accomplished 22 times throughout NBA history. Only 11 of those instances featured runs of more than five consecutive seasons and only four were runs of at least 10 straight seasons with 50+ wins.

The latter is topped by the Spurs’ aforementioned 18-season run from 1999-00 to 2016-17, the Los Angeles Lakers’ 12-year stretch from 1979-80 to 1990-91, and the Dallas Mavericks’ 11-season run from 2000-01 to 2010-11. Boston’s own 10-season run from 1958-59 to 1967-68 completes the list.

The Celtics also recorded nine consecutive seasons with 50+ wins under Larry Bird from 1979-80 to 1987-88, starting with 61 wins in Bird’s first season.

While it may be outlandish to say the team’s current…

Source link : https://sports.yahoo.com/articles/celtics-secure-fifth-straight-50-095600786.html

Author :

Publish date : 2026-04-01 09:56:00

Copyright for syndicated content belongs to the linked Source.