Celtics

This Could Be a Season-Defining Week for the Celtics

Forsberg: This week could define Celtics in more ways than one originally appeared on NBC Sports Boston

The next few days could go a long way toward writing the story of the 2020-21 Boston Celtics.

While this season's team almost certainly will be defined by whatever it accomplishes starting in mid-May, it feels like a pivotal chapter is unfolding now. And last Friday very well could serve as an inflection point in the book.

That day, the Celtics dealt with rumors that coach Brad Stevens was pondering the Indiana University vacancy, crumbled yet again in the fourth quarter while falling to a (seemingly) inferior opponent to drop below .500, and held a team meeting to assess the tenuous nature of the season.

After Sunday’s 3-point barrage that helped Boston produce a much-needed win over the Magic, Marcus Smart detailed how Celtics players huddled after Friday’s loss and pondered some tough questions. The jury remains out on whether that chat can steer this team back on a path to contention.

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"We asked each other, 'How do we want to end the season? How do we want to be remembered for this season?’” said Smart. "Everybody agreed, this was a bad feeling and an ugly feeling that we are feeling and we don't want to feel like this. We don't want to look back on this season and be like, 'Damn, we could have did this.' We still have time. 

"It's not a lot, the margin for it is closing, but we still have time to fix it and that's what we are trying to do. We all came together and we all agreed that we want to evolve as a team and continue to learn and make each other better.”

Beyond  "free meal," the only thing that can make a reporter salivate more is the words, “team meeting.” The truth is they happen all the time. But those huddles tend to get thrust into the spotlight when a team is at a bit of a fork in the road. The next four days will tell us an awful lot about these Celtics.

Monday: Balking in Memphis?

Was Sunday’s win over Orlando the first step towards the Celtics playing a more inspired brand of basketball? Or did Boston simply benefit from a heavy 3-point output against a team steamrolling towards one of the four worst records in basketball?

The Grizzlies should provide more resistance. Memphis will be well-rested after a win Saturday over a Golden State team it is chasing at the bottom of the Western Conference playoff picture.

The Celtics will be without Kemba Walker, who has rested his knee on the second night of back-to-backs since his return. The Celtics don't have a quality road win since February 5 against the Clippers. Boston is a mere 8-14 away from TD Garden overall.

It’s essentially a gut-check game and we’ll find out if the Celtics are truly willing to put in the effort for 48 minutes to be the sort of team they yearn to be.

Wednesday/Friday: Seeking a signature win

The Celtics are 0-8 against the top five teams in the NBA (76ers, Nets, Jazz, Suns, and Lakers). They do have an opening-night win over the Bucks, though it required a last-second Jayson Tatum banked 3-pointer over Giannis Antetokounmpo to emerge.

Can't beat the elites
Celtics' win percentage against teams above .500
36.8
Variation
Single

Which is to say the Celtics don’t exactly have a signature win this season, or at least not in the past three months. The Bucks, meanwhile, have won 11 of their last 12, including an overtime win over the Joel Embiid-less 76ers. The Bucks have the second best scoring differential (plus-7.0) in the NBA behind only the Jazz.

With a two-game series in Milwaukee, Boston gets two cracks at proving it can hang with one of the beasts of the East. Why is that important? If the season ended today, Boston would be visiting the Bucks in the No. 3-No. 6 matchup in Round 1 of the playoffs.

Thursday: Trade Deadline

Buckle up. The Celtics will swirl in a whole bunch of rumors this week, if only because of the $28.5 million traded player exception that gives them the flexibility to jump into just about any transaction. But they'll also be in rumors because it’s clear that Danny Ainge needs to infuse some additional talent on this roster and erase some of the redundancies among bench pieces.

Will Boston make a big-splash move? Or will Ainge err on the side of a smaller move that preserves the majority of the TPE for a summer upgrade? It feels like Ainge has to do something because this team hasn’t reached expectations and even a modest move to add a top-eight rotation player could aid this team amid a brutal pandemic schedule.

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Market prices will likely dictate Boston’s path. Ainge shouldn’t make a move just to make a move and will not overpay for a piece that might not move the needle much for a team with long championship odds.

But he also needs to be more aggressive than past years because 1) The second-half schedule is unrelenting and the core of this team needs assistance and 2) If Boston does pull its collective head from its rear, the team will need as much talent against a beefed up East.

While we’ve spent much of the past few months pondering big-splash moves with the Hayward trade exception, we could ultimately see Ainge erring on the side of a more modest move to add a rotation-ready shooter, most likely at the 4 position. Moving out a collection of players in a deal would declutter the roster and likely preserve much of the TPE.

Forsberg: Trade targets Celtics could consider on more modest price tags

Alas, in a market thin on sellers, the Celtics should brace themselves for sticker shock given high demand when roughly 26 teams likely believe they are still in contention for a playoff spot.

Saturday: Thunder and frightening

There is light at the end of a pandemic tunnel starting March 29 when the Celtics kick off a season-high seven-game homestand with roughly 2,300 fans back inside TD Garden. But they’ve got to keep their ship steady until they get there.

Any roster moves could leave the team thin on available bodies, all while navigating the second night of a back-to-back against an Oklahoma City team that’s still fighting for a final playoff spot in the Western Conference.

It’s simply not going to be an easy week for the Celtics. But it’s a chance to prove that Boston is committed to getting this thing right. It’s time for the Celtics to put on their hard hats. Far too often this season, this team has operated with a sense of entitlement and acted like they can just show up and win games. That certainly won’t be the case this week.

The Celtics asked themselves on Friday how they want this season to be remembered. This week is a chance to change the narrative.

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