Boston’s chemistry is their secret to success

The Boston Celtics are filled with talent from top to bottom. They may very well be the most talented team in the league. Talent doesn’t guarantee wins, though.

Fans often look back at the 2018-19 Celtics – a team that featured Kyrie Irving, Gordon Hayward, Jayson Tatum, Jaylen Brown, Al Horford, Marcus Smart, Terry Rozier, and Marcus Morris, among others – and wonder how that team didn’t even make it past the second round of the playoffs.

Simply put, the team didn’t have chemistry. The players from that team have talked about it since then. There were too many egos to manage. They were playing as talented individuals as opposed to a talented team.

Fast forward to last year. The Celtics traded their longest tenured player, Marcus Smart, for Kristaps Porzingis, who was playing for the tanking Washington Wizards after not being able to get along with Luka Doncic and Jalen Brunson as a Dallas Maverick. They also traded their starting center along with the reigning Sixth Man of the Year, Robert Williams and Malcolm Brogdon, for Jrue Holiday.

When the team was first assembled, fans around the NBA were more than skeptical about Boston’s ability to win. It wasn’t for a lack of talent – there were plenty of fans complaining that Boston assembled a “super team.” They assumed that the team didn’t have the experience to get it done, and that the chemistry wasn’t there. Fans were looking at this like a potential repeat of the 2018-19 season.

The Celtics wrote a different story, though.

As good as they were, the sheer talent isn’t what brought them a championship last year. It was their ability to play team basketball. Everyone had a role, and everyone was committed to playing that role. Everyone supported each other in these roles, too. They were connected. They cared about the details. They were willing to make sacrifices because they all had the same goal.

Brad Stevens and Celtics ownership were looking at a massive payroll to retain the team, but they saw last year’s success, and knew that it could be built upon and repeated by keeping the roster intact. By listening in to the post game pressers throughout this year’s regular season, and especially during Boston’s current playoff series against the Orlando Magic, it’s become very evident just how smart of a decision that was, and how far this team’s chemistry and maturity has come.

After the Celtics took Game 4 down in Orlando to go up 3-1 in the series, CelticsBlog’s Noa Dalzell asked Kristaps Porzingis about his thoughts on Tatum’s performance down the stretch. “I thought to myself, ‘This guy is special,’” he said. “He wants the ball towards the end, and we trust him fully that he’s gonna get a bucket for us.”

Jaylen Brown also had high praise for his teammates, taking the time to give shoutouts to Tatum, Porzingis, and Horford. He mentioned how the Magic were forcing the Celtics to beat them 1-on-1, and that Jayson made them pay for it. He also talked about how he and Jayson have grown together over the years, and the trust that they’ve built with each other.

When Brown was asked about Porzingis’s role in the playoffs, he made sure to credit the work KP had put in along the way. “KP is in – I think – much better shape than he was last year physically, mentally more prepared… he’s been preparing himself for these moments, and today was an example of that work just showing up.”

Jaylen gushed about Al Horford’s contributions as well. “Tremendous… He just did what it took to win. We really expect nothing less. That’s just Al Horford in a nutshell.”

Brown wasn’t the only one to give Al his flowers, though. Jayson Tatum had this to say: “I can’t say enough. Al is unbelievable… He’s got the heart of a champion.”

Joe Mazzulla had some thoughts of his own on Horford’s performance. “There should be a separate box score for guys like him because of the kinds of stuff that he does.”

Even Torrey Craig, who didn’t see the floor all game, made sure to give Al his props back in the locker room. After Mazzulla finished his usual post-game pep talk, Torrey chimed in, shouting from across the room, “good defense, Al,” which was meant by cheers and claps by the rest of the team.

The chemistry on this team goes so deep, even Celtics rookie Baylor Scheierman got some love in the post-game pressers despite the fact that he hasn’t played a single minute in this series. Jayson Tatum debuted a new celebration early in the game, grabbing his wrist with his hands raised after making a three. When asked where it came from, he gave the credit over to Baylor.

All of this praise across the team comes in just one night of pressers, and that too after a game which hasn’t yet resulted in the team advancing to the next round. It’s been well documented throughout the season how selfless Boston has become. It’s not just their ability, but their desire to acknowledge their teammates’ contributions and lift each other up that gives the Celtics an edge in these playoffs. That kind of chemistry is what drives success, on and off the court.