Good players who want to be a part of something bigger than themselves, the guiding principle behind Boston’s success this season Celtics the team is characterized by its creator, Brad Stevens, with whose blessing Latvian Kristaps Porzingis also donned the green and white jersey last summer. Liepājnieks became one of the most important cogs in the “Celtic” mechanism, so that the team from a long-time contender became the main favorite for the title. This season’s place Celtics in the glorious history of the club will not be determined by success in the impressively held main tournament, but in the elimination tournament that will begin at the weekend.
Celtics success in the main tournament is quite accurately marked by a seven-win advantage over the second best team in the league, and in the eastern zone, the advantage over the closest follower, the New York Knicks, is twice as large. That’s the biggest difference between the top two spots in the East since 1976. “You can never expect to be a 64-win team. It’s extremely difficult, no matter how good you are,” said Stephens, the club’s president of basketball operations, noting that the result was not a goal in itself, but it was not a surprise either. It should be noted that Celtics this season, they did not go in the regular season record “hunt” and during the season the coaches were not shy to rest the team leaders often, but the first place in the league was won either almost or in cruise control mode. “It doesn’t guarantee anything,” Brad Stevens reminded reporters. “You also have to go on the pitch and continue to earn success with your performances. The key for us is a lot of good players who want to be part of something bigger than themselves. That was a pretty clear goal from the beginning.”
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