The NBA regular season has come to a close. For the Boston Celtics, it was a season that saw the team enter with many question marks; they outperformed expectations and finished with a 56-26 record. Boston will enter the playoffs as the second seed in the Eastern Conference.
As the second seed, the Celtics will have to wait and see who they will match up with in the first round. It will be the winner of the Orlando Magic's matchup against the Philadelphia 76ers in the play-in game on Wednesday, April 14. Until then, for the Celtics to have success in the playoffs, they'll need four key things to guide them.
1. Jayson Tatum Continues to Return to Form
Two stories defined Boston's season. The first one we will discuss is the return of Jayson Tatum. After rupturing his Achilles tendon in Game 4 of the second round last year, Tatum defied all expectations by returning to the court this season. Achilles injuries can take up to a year to return from, making Tatum's return at only 298 days rather impressive. Whenever someone suffers a serious injury as Tatum did, it can take some time to shake off the rust and return to form.
So far, Tatum has looked better than expected.
Tatum went on to play in 16 games this season, averaging 21.8 points, 10 rebounds, and 5.3 assists. While Tatum's efficiency still has room for improvement (41.1 percent from the field and 32.9 percent from beyond the arc), everything about his actual play on the court has looked great and is promising for his future. One of the biggest areas that Tatum has helped with is rebounding, which is needed right now.
Adding Tatum back into the lineup has helped turn Boston's rebounding into one of the team's strengths. Neemias Queta, in particular, has benefited from having a skilled rebounder, Tatum, next to him, giving the big man the leeway to protect the rim with more aggressiveness.
Boston's best chance of winning needs Tatum to continue to improve his play since his return.
2- Jaylen Brown Plays the Same
The other big story of Boston's season was Jaylen Brown's standout play. Entering the season, Brown was going to have a bigger role to compensate for Tatum's injury and the departures from last season's team, and he turned in his best season yet. Brown's play even saw him force his way into the MVP conversation.
This season, Brown saw career highs in points (28.7), assists (5.1), free-throw percentage( 79.5), and tied his career high in rebounds(6.9). Not only was Brown scoring more points than at any point in his career, but he remained efficient in the process, shooting 47.7 percent from the field and 34.7 percent from 3-point range.
Now in the playoffs, Boston will need Brown to continue this level play.
3- Derrick White Finds His Shot
During the season, Derrick White remained an integral part of the Celtics, especially on the defensive side of the ball, finishing with 98 blocks and 88 steals. Offensively, White had a career high in points (16.5) and assists (5.4), but his efficiency took a hit. On the season, White finished with a 39.4 percent from the field and 32.7 percent from the perimeter, both lows during his Celtics tenure.
Now that we're in the playoffs, White needs to find his shot and get back to his old efficiency. Given his importance to the Celtics' offense, Boston needs White to get back to his old shooting self, with the games meaning more and less room for error.
4. Boston Gets Help From the "Other Guys"
Boston had many question marks in the rotation heading into the season, with many options not having played consistent minutes in the NBA. If we learned anything from the Celtics this season, it's that you shouldn't underestimate them.
Multiple players stepped up in bigger roles this season, like the aforementioned Queta, Baylor Scheierman, and Luka Garza. The depth of the Celtics has been a strength of this team as guys have been ready to play when called upon. In the playoffs, Boston will need that effort to have its best chance of a deep playoff run.
While the NBA is a star-driven league, you need depth to win a title. Boston has the players at the top to contend for a title. To take the team to the end, Boston will need to continue to get help from the rest of the rotation.