Who’s stopping Boston? Dissecting the Celtics’ juggernaut after their dominant season

Therehas been a level of dominance the Boston Celtics have had thisseason that not a lot of teams in the history of the league havereached or come close to. The team’s mixture of star power, depth,and chemistry within the tight-knit group of guys has been thesource of power for the historically dominant regular seasonteam.

Intheir March 17 game vs Washington, Jayson Tatum, Jrue Holiday, andAl Horford combined to destroy the Wizards, 130-104. Bench playerSam Hauser, who started the game, led the team in scoring with 30points built on 10 three-point shots.

Thenon their next game, in came Jaylen Brown, Derrick White, andKristaps Porzingis, who then annihilated the Detroit Pistons 119-94on the second night of a back-to-back. Another bench player, PaytonPritchard starred with 23 points and 7 assists as the Celticsearned yet another win.

Thisspeaks to their depth as a team as well as the adaptability of eachplayer to play with either of their core six guys with relativeease and without skipping a beat. The Celtics are a machine thatkeeps going with pieces and parts that are versatile enough to keeptheir brand of basketball going no matter who you sub in or slotonto the floor whenever someone is out.

Withtheir dominant regular season coming down to a close, one questionawaits the rest of the league as the playoffsarrive.

Who isstopping the Boston Celtics?

Theguys in green have been far away the best team in the league by awide margin, racing past ahead of all the other teams.

TheCeltics just speedrun through everything, especially in the East,where they were far away the best team and are just cherry-pickingto wait and see whoever will finish second behind them. The onlydisappointment thus far was not winning the In-Season Tournamenttitle, which probably wasn’t the championship they wanted to winanyway.

Theyhave the league’s best record at 64-18 and they never lost morethan two straight throughout the year. They blew out three teams by50 or more points and they have only lost four games at the BostonGarden, and have only just lost to an Eastern Conference team athome for over a year – since March of 2023. The only team to wintwo and claim the season series over Boston are the defendingchampions Denver Nuggets, which makes sense considering they’re theteam all teams in the NBA are chasing after.

TheCeltics will be the only team that will finish in double-digits inplus/minus efficiency (+11.3) and they rank 1st in offensive rating(120.4) and 5th in defensive rating (110.5) in the entire league.This level of dominance in the regular season makes it one of themost impressive ones in recent NBA history.

TheBoston Celtics might go all the way this year and take that coveted18th championship title, but what makes them so good?

'The Jays' superstar duo:Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown

TheCeltics start and end with their star forward duo. They would notbe near where they are right now without these two. The way theycomplement each other and play off of each other has beenspectacular, and their chemistry has been built since 2016-2017when Boston drafted both guys back to back with the no.3 pick. Withthe Celtics having two dynamic two-way guys in Tatum and Brown,they have the foundation to allow them to surround the team withguys that complement their skills, which president Brad Stevens andcoach Joe Mazzulla have done an incredible job of doing so over thepast couple years.

Rosterconstruction

Aftertrading away mainstays Marcus Smart, Robert Williams, and GrantWilliams this season, Brad Stevens built the roster with someawesome replacements in Kristaps Porzingis and JrueHoliday.

Porzingis just fits the Celtics’ scheme so muchas he gives them a stretch big that can space the floor for their5-out offense. On defense, his towering 7’3 frame can alter andblock shots. Porzingis is also the perfect Al Horford replacementwho has been key to the lineups the Celtics run in the previousyears. Although Horford is now 37 and is nearing the end of hiscareer, he's still bringing that veteran leadership and the floorspacing to give the Celtics more options on offense.

Holiday’s transition into the team has beenseamless, filling in the place of Smart. A 2022 champion with theMilwaukee Bucks, Holiday brought the championship mindset alongwith his trademark defensive versatility and a plug-and-playoffensive repertoire that has elevated the Celtics’ play all seasonlong.

AroundTatum and Brown and their new acquisitions Porzingis and Holiday,the ever-consistent Derrick White and the ageless Al Horford comeinto place to complete their starting five and their fearsomesix-man lineup. Solid bench pieces led by Payton Pritchard and SamHauser provide quality backup minutes to ensure Boston does notlose a single step whenever their mainstays rest during the games.Depending on the matchup, big men Xavier Tillman and Luke Kornetwill see some minutes and both have proven they can play the styleof basketball the Celtics need to win. Overall, this team isarguably the best the Celtics have in years, and they have all themakings to have a deep playoff run.

However, Boston knows the job is not done yetand the real test is at hand. No matter how good they have been inthe first six months of the year, it all comes down to how theywill perform and execute in the season’s final three months when itmatters the most. And they certainly hope they can reach thepinnacle again and this time, come out on top in June.

Tofurther strengthen that point, it isn’t a guarantee to win all thetime, especially in the playoffs. Although it is an indication ofgood habits built throughout the season, the playoffs are adifferent beast. According to NBA.com, only five teams in the last20 years had the best record winning the title that season. Thelast best-record champions were the 2016-17 Warriors as teams dealwith a variety of challenges throughout thepostseason.

As theroad to the 18th banner looms close, the Celtics have themselves astheir biggest obstacle – only they can stop themselves fromachieving their full potential.