Celtics Win Without Tatum: Keys to Success

May 12, 2025, there are 3 minutes and 6 seconds left to finish a match that the Boston Celtics They have lost to the New York Knicks. In an action like any other Jayson Tatum He apparently loses his balance and falls onto the Madison Square Garden floor. That sequence that culminates with an unopposed layup by OG Anunoby will end up etched in the retinas of green fans as one of the most crucial moments in green history, which is not saying something.

That moment and its subsequent consequences, the rupture of Tatum’s right Achilles tendon, completely transformed the path of the Celtics. Yes, the reformulation of the project was going to occur whether or not they returned to the Knicks, whether or not they won the second ring in a row. The new rules led Brad Stevens to break the squad. But that accelerated the process and in the blink of an eye Jaylen Brown, Derrick White y Payton Pritchard They were left alone in the room looking at each other as if in a spaghetti westernwaiting to see who would be the next to fall.

Many left and others arrived, most of them perfect strangers in search of an opportunity or a start, like Hugo González.

Virtually all analysts and fans agreed on the transitional nature of the current season. Like a dead calm waiting for Tatum to return when it was safe.

But Joe Mazzulla had other plans.

The genuine coach saw the squad as a blank canvas, as an opportunity to start from scratch with a team that did not carry the backpack of the extinct project designed for Udoka. These were going to be his Celtics and He wanted to make it clear from day onewith a preseason that served as a clear demonstration of where the shots were going to go.

«I don’t even play on a basketball team. “I play on an athletics team.”said Jaylen Brown after the first days of concentration. “The training camp has been crazy. No mistakes. It has been like playing in the jungle. It has been crazy.”

Mazzulla sent a message to the group: no one rests here and we are going to be an uncomfortable team.

With 33 games played in the 2025-26 season, the results for the Boston Celtics could not be better given the context. 63.6% winsless than 4 games from the top of the Eastern Conference and occupying the last place on the podium on their side of the table. Your situation at this exact point last year? Not very different, 72.7% wins and 5 duels against some historic Cavs.

All this with the best attack in the entire NBA, the 10th best defense and only 3 defeats in 13 games since December 1

But what has changed in the Celtics to be able to remain among the NBA’s elite after losing Jayson Tatum, Al Horford, Kristaps Porzingis y Jrue Holiday? It’s time to analyze it.

Simplify and you will win

One of the points that has defined the Boston Celtics since Joe Mazzulla was promoted to head coach of the franchise has been the commitment to an offensive system based on dividing and doubling. This consists of putting a great pressure on the rival paint with the aim of collapsing their defense and intervening in their aid plan. Depending on their response, the distribution of shots results in more three-pointers from still feet or a high volume of layups.

One of the consequences of this offensive philosophyin addition to a high number of triples, is that the concept of handler is somewhat diluted by the dynamics of the game itself. Something that means, broadly speaking, that everyone can dribble, that everyone can attack the rim, that everyone can be protagonists to a certain extent.

The changes produced in the workforce called into question the continuity of this vision. Fundamentally because talent had been reduced as well as the ability to generate pot advantages that would lead to a favorable launching action. Far from seeking to implement a new philosophy, completely modifying the bases of what was established, Mazzulla has opted to preserve the essence of what was built, only reducing the number of variables involved.

The Celtics are the third team with the most dribbles per ball a player touches (2.62), the ones that retain the ball the most with 3.25 seconds per touch and yet the 5th most efficient receiving team in the entire NBA, with 0.29 points per touch.

What does this data translate into? Low volume of passes, few assists, but high quality connections, being the fourth team that generates the most points after basket passes in the competition. 53.8% of their points are assisted and thus it is better understood that a total of 7 players are above the threshold of efficiency in outside shooting (36%): Luka Garza (47.1%), Jordan Walsh (45.1%), Josh Minott (44.4%), Baylor Scheierman (42.6%), Hugo González (39.5%), Sam Hauser (37.9%) and Anfernee Simons (37.6%). And that the 3 who do not make the cut in the usual rotation (Brown, White and Pritchard) are the ones who have the most creative weight in the system.

Mazzulla has known how to choose well how to resolve a ballot that is not at all simple without anything apparently having changed. The secondary players perform a defined role completely stripped of any hint of freedom, since they will give their grain of creativity in defense. Meanwhile, the three axes of the attack run wild with a spacing that pushes them to be the protagonists of their own movie.

This explains how the Celtics have gone from being an average team in mid-range shots last season (17th) to occupying the 3rd position in volume (12.3) and 6th in success (44.8%).

The actors have changed, but not the background.

Jaylen Brown’s step forward

Paul Pierce’s career after his sporting retirement has not been the most eloquent or the most lucid, there is no doubt about that. However, from time to time he leaves statements with some depth and that are partially right.

“Everyone talks about Cunningham, Wemby, Shai and Jokic, I understand it but this boy [Jaylen Brown] It needs some kind of recognition. He’s scoring 30 points consistently and should be in the conversation [por el MVP]»the 2008 Finals MVP said recently.

While the reason behind Pierce’s statement probably has nothing to do with widespread hatred of the Celtics as he claimed, it is no less true that the season of Jaylen Brown is being outstanding.

Since the beginning of his career he has had to endure constant doubts and an unfair comparison with Jayson Tatum. His name has always been in transfer rumors, both in low times and in the high moments of the project. And when it would make the most sense for all parties to look for a way out, the MVP of the 2024 Finals has responded with the best individual version possible. And most importantly, he is helping the Celtics be contenders in an open Eastern Conference.

29.5 points, 6.4 rebounds, 5.0 assists, 1.1 steals and shooting 50.3% from the field. The list of players in Celtics history capable of achieving 29-5-5 is reduced to two: Jaylen Brown and Larry Bird (1987-88).

This statistical simplification serves to measure the true level of a Brown who leads the NBA in two-point shots above any other player with 15.9. And the most relevant thing is that he is achieving it with almost a third of his shots from the middle distance and an absolutely elite precision (48.6%).

Only Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, James Harden and Luka Doncic are managing to be more decisive in clearing actions than the Celtics star, who has increased his scoring production by 32.8% by changing his shooting card and becoming the main reference of his team.

And what about the defense?

The offensive proposal deployed by the Celtics in the previous two campaigns under Mazzulla did not leave much room to maintain a high defensive level for prolonged periods. The physical demand and the very drift of the game inevitably led to a frenzy where the opponent ended up succumbing to the Boston style or adapting to it to the green misfortune.

The members of the Celtics have become Joe Mazzulla’s attack dogs. A series of tireless competitors at a defensive level that overlap each other with a fairly even physical profile and that has propelled them to the position they currently occupy.

In general terms, Mazzulla’s team has managed to position itself as the third team that concedes the least success to its opponents (44.9%), mainly due to his control of the paint (41.8%). Something that makes Boston one of the most uncomfortable teams in the entire competition.

Redefining the new NBA

The NBA’s own competitive and regulatory dynamics have always penalized mediocre teams, mediocre teams that are neither upward nor towards the lottery. A dynamic that has become even more extreme in the heat of the current CBA that discourages bad and expensive teams from occupying one of the two categories for a long time.

Logic suggested that the Celtics would follow a path similar to that of the Indiana Pacers this season, lacking their star and without overly forcing their main names. Nothing could be further from the truth.

These Celtics are tangible proof that there are no transition seasons. That the NBA is governed by the now and today and that the future is only a marketing campaign that has little or nothing to do with what happens on the court.