Top Boston sports stories of 2022: Celtics edition
BOSTON -- The Celtics did not bring home another banner in 2022, but man did they come close. And based on how the team looks heading into 2023, the future is extremely bright for Boston's basketball team.
After an uninspiring start to last season, the Celtics have been an absolute wagon since then. We're seeing Jayson Tatum play at an MVP level, and Jaylen Brown isn't far behind. Marcus Smart is doing all the things that make his Marcus Smart, and with Malcolm Brogdon added to the mix, the Boston bench is as good as it's been in over a decade.
The Celtics are one of the best teams in the NBA as we approach the new year, one of just a handful of teams that are being viewed as a legit contender when the weather gets a lot better. Combining the end of last season and the start of this season, the Celtics have went 60-22 in 2022.
While there is disappointment from losing in the NBA Finals last summer, it has been a lot of fun getting to this point. Let's look back on the storylines that got us here and have the majority of the NBA green with envy.
Celtics make run to Finals after incredible turnaround
Following an embarrassing loss to the New York Knicks in which they blew a 24-point first-half lead, the Celtics sat at just 18-21 on Jan. 6. No one was playing together, with Tatum and Brown trading off hero possessions while everyone else was just kind of there. Ime Udoka was calling out his players after nearly every loss.
Then, something clicked. The team started passing the ball, and all of that sharing led to better looks for everyone on the floor. The defense really ramped up to an otherworldly level. With that, the wins began piling up and the Celtics began to climb up in the standings.
The Celtics tore through the rest of the NBA to the tune of a 33-10 record to close the regular season. They finished 51-31 and claimed the two-seed in the Eastern Conference, and felt like a legit contender when the postseason arrived.
They promptly swept Kevin Durant, Kyrie Irving, and the Brooklyn Nets out of the first round. Boston tipped off the playoffs with a thrilling Tatum buzzer-beater in Game 1, and the C's defense made Durant look pedestrian for four games.
Then it was on to a thrilling seven-game series win over Giannis and the Bucks (much more on this one shortly), followed by another thrilling seven-game win over the Miami Heat in the Eastern Conference Finals. The Celtics were back in the NBA Finals for the first time since 2010, but they weren't ready for that big stage against the Golden State Warriors.
The Celtics won Game 1 of the Finals in San Fran, and had a chance to take a 3-1 series lead back in Boston. But Steph Curry went off for 43 points in Game 4, and the Warriors never looked back. The Celtics fell in six games, as Tatum struggled with his shot and he and Brown both struggled with turnovers in the series.
It was a humbling loss, one the team will not soon forget. But they have used it for fuel for their incredible start to the 2022-23 season, and it will continue to fuel them until they get another crack at raising a banner.
Al vs. Giannis
We have to highlight the Celtics-Bucks Eastern Conference Semifinals, because that series was awesome. It also included perhaps the best moment of Al Horford's pro career.
Horford and Giannis got into it during a fairly chippy Game 4, starting with Giannis giving Horford a glare and some trash talk after delivering a thunderous dunk early in the second half. Giannis' jam put the Bucks up by six early in the third quarter, but it also lit a fire under Horford.
After Giannis' slam, the veteran walked away and shook his head, fully understanding that Giannis had just gotten the better of him and was really yucking it up.
Al kept that one filed away for a little bit. When he had the chance to posterize Giannis in the next quarter, he didn't let it go to waste. And it was absolutely glorious:
Al is as calm and cool as they come. You don't see him get that fired up for a hoop -- ever. But posterizing Giannis is certainly a play worthy of such a celebration.
Horford's dunk -- and the ensuing free throws by Horford and Jrue Holiday -- tied the game at 81-81 and shifted all the energy in Boston's favor. Horford scored 15 of his 30 points in the fourth quarter, and became the oldest player in Celtics history to score at least 30 in a playoff game.
The Celtics picked up a crucial road win, 116-108, to tie the series at two games apiece.
Tatum's Career Moment in Milwaukee
Horford's heroics were almost for nothing after the Celtics dropped Game 5 back in Boston. Then it was Jayson Tatum's turn to shine in Game 6.
Facing elimination, Tatum went out and had his defining moment in Game 6 in Milwaukee. The Bucks nearly rallied from a 14-point deficit in the fourth quarter, but Tatum wouldn't let them steal the win. He was on another level as he went head-to-head with Giannis, scoring 16 of Boston's 26 points in the fourth quarter. He scored 11 straight at one point that put the Celtics back up by double digits.
Overall, Tatum dropped 46 points off 17-for-32 shooting. He was barely touching iron on most of his makes. On a night when the Celtics needed a star to shine, Tatum had the finest game of his career.
Marcus Smart Wins DPOY
Boston fans are very familiar on everything Marcus Smart brings to the floor. He's a defensive menace that has a knack for making those momentum-shifting or game-changing plays. He leaves it all out on the hardwood every night.
Guards have not gotten much love in Defensive Player of the Year voting for the last few decades, but Smart bucked that trend in 2022. He was the first guard to be named the NBA's DPOY since Gary Payton's win in 1996, a huge win for Smart and the Celtics.
With that award came another awesome robe for Smart, which he proudly showed off early in the playoffs. Now he's out there looking to defend his DPOY crown every night.
Celtics acquire Malcolm Brogdon
A number of factors played into Boston's loss in the Finals. Turnovers. Fatigue. Steph Curry.
But it was clear that the Celtics needed to bolster the roster and add a lot more depth behind their starting five of Tatum, Brown, Smart, Horford, and Robert Williams. Brad Stevens took care of that with one move over the summer: Acquiring Malcolm Brogdon from the Indiana Pacers.
Brogdon has been everything the Celtics have needed off the bench so far this season. He's a veteran who can create his own shot, but he's also a gifted enough passer and slasher to create for others. A starter for the majority of his career, he's accepted -- and thrived -- in his new role as a reserve.
Honoring a legend
The NBA lost a legend in July when Bill Russell passed away in July at the age of 88. The basketball world lost one of the greatest players to ever lace up a pair of Converse sneakers and one of the most decorated athletes ever. Russell won 11 titles in his 13 seasons in Boston, and his legend is being honored by the Celtics and the rest of the league throughout the season.
The Celtics had a special ceremony honoring Russell on Opening Night and have another special day on the schedule for Russell's birthday. The team is wearing No. 6 patches -- as are all teams in the NBA this year -- and Russell's No. 6 is also in the paint on both ends of the TD Garden floor. Russell's number has also been retired league-wide.
Ime Udoka's suspension
This one was just... odd. And extremely disappointing. And we still don't know everything that went on, but we do know that Udoka earned himself a year-long suspension for multiple violations of team policies. He reportedly had a relationship with another team employee, but it sounds like it goes much, much deeper than that. The Celtics have remained tight-lipped about exactly what happened for legal reasons.
But it put quite the ominous cloud over the team just a few days ahead of training camp. It was Udoka's tough-love approach that was praised for getting the Celtics to play the right way in the second half of last season, and he appeared to be the kind of head coach the young Boston core needed to get over the hump.
Chances are Udoka will never coach the Celtics again. (There was a really odd few days where the Brooklyn Nets appeared ready to hire Ime, and other teams will be in line when he's freed from his contract with the C's.) At least Boston appears to be in good hands with interim head coach Joe Mazzulla.
An absurd start to the new season
Mazzulla has admitted that he isn't doing anything too out of the ordinary (minus all that gum chewing) and that it's Boston's players that had the team off to a great start to 2022-23. And by great start, we meant historic.
The Celtics offense was running circles around everyone else to start the season, dropping a ridiculous amount of points at a ridiculously efficient pace. The Celtics casually scored 70 points in the first half throughout the start of the season, leading to a 21-5 start to the campaign.
Water is starting to reach its level and the Celtics' offense is starting to return to earth. But after losing in the Finals -- and, after losing their head coach in September -- there were a lot of questions about how the Celtics would respond. They've been incredible to start the year, sitting with the best record at 26-10, and have left little doubt that they'll be playing for a title in the summer of 2023.
(Just please please please please please keep Robert Williams healthy for the playoffs. Please.)