The NBA will go another year without a repeat champion, as the Celtics’ title defense ends in the second round of the 2025 NBA Playoffs.
After winning 61 games in the regular season, Boston entered the playoffs as the presumptive title favorite despite being the East’s No. 2 seed. Just as things mostly went smoothly in the first round, they quickly fell apart in the second round as the Celtics were eliminated in six games by the Knicks.
While the series loss is unfortunate, it feels insignificant in the grand scheme after superstar forward Jayson Tatum suffered a ruptured Achilles tendon down the stretch of Game 4.
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Difficult as it is to win one title, it’s even harder to repeat. Tatum’s injury is one of many things that went wrong as Boston’s pursuit of being the last team standing fell short.
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What went wrong for the Celtics?
Boston entered their second-round series vs. the Knicks as a heavy favorite and looked the part for most of Games 1 through 4.
Despite building big leads and outclassing New York in many facets of the game, Boston found itself in a 3-1 series hole after its devastating Game 4 loss. There’s a reason that series deficit is nearly impossible to come back from, and the Celtics didn’t have enough to win three straight, especially without Tatum.
Here’s what stood out.
Health
More than just Tatum’s injury, the end of Boston’s run reinforces how injury luck plays a role in sustained postseason success.
All-Star Jaylen Brown entered the playoffs hobbled by a knee injury, and big man Kristaps Porzingis was plagued by residual effects of an illness that kept him sidelined earlier in the season.
The result was two of the Celtics’ most important contributors performing well below 100 percent, placing more pressure on the rest of the roster.
As displayed during Boston’s 2024 title run, the team operates as a well-flowing machine when all the parts are performing optimally.
Overcoming setbacks from one of Brown or Porzingis may have been doable, but dealing with issues affecting both proved to be too much. And that was long before the devastating injury to Tatum.
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Blown leads
The Celtics, quite literally, let Games 1 and 2 of the series slip away. They looked the part of the better team, and the results showed, evidenced by the big leads they were able to build in the third quarter of each game:
- Game 1: Celtics led 72-52 with 6:19 remaining in the third
- Game 2: Celtics led 73-53 with 2:18 remaining in the third
- Game 4: Celtics led 72-58 with 8:50 remaining in the third
Everything that needed to go wrong in Games 1 and 2 did go wrong, as Boston’s baffling late-game execution left the door open and New York fully took advantage by chipping away to come out on top.
After both blown leads, the overwhelming sense of confidence was that of a superior team that had built those leads for a reason. While the Celtics’ 115-93 Game 3 win proved that theory to be somewhat true, the Knicks had the confidence of knowing they were never truly out of a game.
They did just that in Game 4.
As errors compounded, the Knicks took full advantage thanks to the fourth-quarter execution of Jalen Brunson, Mikal Bridges, and O.G. Anunoby, specifically. With a roster constructed to make life difficult for Boston, New York took full advantage of its opponent’s shortcomings.
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Lack of urgency
It would be too harsh to suggest the Celtics simply expected the Knicks to quit, but Boston did have the look of a team that expected to win.
At best, the presumed approach to the series was puzzling for a team that got over the hump with a title win one year prior. The Celtics maintained that this run was independent of last year’s, but it didn’t quite show in the results.
After taking exception to the physicality and effort shown by Orlando in the opening round, Boston was not sharp enough against New York.
The Celtics blew defensive assignments and turned the ball over in crucial spots, coming up well short of what would be deemed championship-level execution. Boston’s semifinals loss was a reminder of the cruelty of this league and how quickly things can change.
Due to a lack of that sense of urgency, the Celtics are set to face some uncomfortable decisions about the future of the franchise.
