BOSTON — Brad Stevens took a rare step up to the podium on Thursday and provided a different perspective on the state of the team than we’ve heard since the new year began. While remaining confident through what’s admittedly been an up-and-down start to 2025, he was asked about the team’s continued strong performance in the analytics department in January.
“Yeah, they were buoyed by some blowouts,” he said, smiling. “I’m kidding.”
“I don’t get too caught up in the numbers of that stretch, because we lost some close games that maybe we felt like we could’ve won but made mistakes at the end and lost. Then, our numbers were probably buoyed by a couple of those 30-40 point wins, and so we probably weren’t playing as good as our numbers at that time, but we’re capable. We’re capable on both ends of the court. Listen, it’s a long year. We have played late and we hope to play late. We know that nothing’s given, but the reality is we also know there are going to be ups-and-downs and we can’t ride those.”
The Celtics found some stability entering this week’s trade deadline, and while a veteran need emerged at the wing that they addressed through the buyout market with Torrey Craig, Stevens didn’t feel the need to shake-up the roster that won the championship last season.
However, a blowout loss to the Mavericks became the latest inexplicable no-show at nearly full health. Dallas built a double-digit lead early and never relented. The Celtics sat their starters down by 24 points with more than nine minutes left.
Two days prior, they limited the Cavs’ offense to 15 first quarter points and held off their rallies throughout to win their fourth straight game for the first time since November, and second in three meetings with the East’s top seed. It looked like momentum stemming from Boston’s 26-point comeback at Philadelphia on Sunday, another team missing most of their regular contributors who nearly knocked off the Celtics.
Joe Mazzulla, normally expressing optimism and enjoyment through the low moments, asked Boston’s starters if they wanted him to bench them at halftime in Philadelphia. That inspired one of their best halves recently. Jaylen Brown said they could’ve given in and made some excuses to the media, but didn’t.
After Thursday’s debacle, the post-game reaction shifted back toward trying to find answers. Payton Pritchard pointed toward returning from a long road trip. Brown stressed just getting to the All-Star break intact, resetting mentally and reassessing. However, there are still three difficult games to go before then: at Madison Square Garden tonight then down to South Beach and finally wrapping up at home hosting the Spurs. Mazzulla called the process of this season a great journey, and that he’s having a blast.
