SPORTS: OPINION: Can the Celtics repeat next year?
By Vicente Mendoza
Sports Editor
Published Tuesday, Sept. 17, 2024
Before the playoffs started, I predicted in my last column that the Boston Celtics were going to win the 2024 NBA Finals. Five months later, I am now making an update to my original story because the Celtics went on a tear at the end of the season.
They finished their last 20 games 16-4 and as the top seed in the Eastern Conference. They backed up their play going into the playoffs just losing two games in their first two rounds against Miami and Cleveland, and then finally sweeping Indiana in the Eastern Conference Finals. At this point, they were heavily favored to win the championship no matter what team came out of the West.
For the NBA Finals, they faced Dallas; many thought the Celtics were gonna win. Dallas made some noise offensively the last three rounds, and put the seeds of doubt into many Boston supporters. How did Boston respond? They completely dismantled the Mavericks going up 3-0 in the Finals and finishing business in Game 5, winning the series 4-1.
After 15 long years, the Boston Celtics finally became world champions and led the league for the most championships, pushing past the Los Angeles Lakers. While this fun happened a few weeks after their championship run, many people started criticizing it. Many people thought Boston had one of the easiest championship runs because every team they faced suffered injuries.
In the first round, Miami Heat star Jimmy Butler missed most of the series with an injury. This injury turned Miami from being one of the best teams to a team struggling on both ends of the floor. In the second round, the Cavs also went without star Donavan Mitchell; not only that, Caris Lavert and Ty Jerome, who were big contributors to this squad, were missing.
Lastly, for the Eastern Conference Finals, Indiana Pacers star Tyrese Haliburton went down with a hamstring injury in Game 2, leaving Indiana helpless in the series sweep. Even though Dallas did not have any injuries in the Finals, many did not respect Boston’s run.
With all this criticism aimed at Boston, they are currently the favorites to repeat next season. I personally despise the Boston Celtics as a Los Angeles Lakers fan, but I do have to agree with many people on their prediction for Boston to repeat this year.
Going into this season, Boston will be leading with the same squad from their championship run, which is possibly one of most talented and deepest squads in the NBA. Led by Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown, this team will no doubt make some noise this season.
To repeat this year, Boston absolutely cannot stay stagnant with their play. They need to constantly improve every game and show what they can do.
The stars also need to step up day-in and day-out this season. If just one of their stars goes on a slump, that will be a weakness their opponents can exploit. Other than that scenario, Boston could definitely repeat this year.
The only way Boston does not repeat this year is if team injuries from the stars or depth occur throughout the season. If everyone stays healthy going forward, this will be another good season for the Boston Celtics.
