Newlook Celtics not dead yet

I hate to say I told ya so. Who am I kidding? No, I don't. I live for it.

Everyone was writing the Celtics off as soon as Jayson Tatum was wheeled into the locker room after rupturing his Achilles tendon. Don't tell me you weren't one of them. I've been listening to talk radio the last two days. I heard all the callers AND talk show hosts count the Celtics out – not just for this year, but next year, too.

I've listened to the podcasts. I've seen the TV shows. I've seen the Red Sox fan channels on YouTube.

I heard people debate if the Celtics should trade Jaylen Brown to the Mavericks for their number one overall pick in order to draft Cooper Flagg.

I heard a lot of people say the Celtics should tank next year and hit the reset button on the franchise and get ready to build around Tatum anew when he is back in 2027.

I heard people lamenting that the Celtics were a lock to win – not one, not two, not three – numerous consecutive championships. Now, with the snap of a finger (or Achilles tendon), the Celtics were a lottery team.

It was embarrassing. I don't know why I should have been surprised. I've witnessed it over and over again around these parts for almost fifty years as a fan in these parts.

It's always been "what have you done for me lately" to the extreme. The Patriots, during their heyday, could have won ten straight games and as soon as they lost one, the sky was falling. Every time Brady had a bad game since 2008, the "cliff was coming" people would come out of the woodwork.

There was several times when Josh McDaniels was vilified for long periods of time during his 13 years as the Patriots' offensive coordinator. Here's a small sample from 2008 of a few comments on patsfan.com:

Fast forward to 2025 and everyone in Pats Nation is viewing McDaniels as the elixir to all that has poisoned the Patriots' offense since... well, since he left in 2021. McDaniels worked with Tom Brady for many years,ergo, McDaniels is going to make Drake Maye into another Tom Brady. He is going to get Ja'Lynn Polk turned around. Patriots' receivers are, all of a sudden, going to get open all the time. There is no way the offensive line will be as bad as they were last year. Josh is here now.

Until the first game the Patriots are held to three points..

Then it will be "McDaniels is a bum. I told ya they shouldn't have brought him back."

I heard people comparing the Tatum injury to Tom Brady's tearing his ACL in the season opener in 2008 and Kevin Garnett's issues with his knee starting in 2009.

Jayson Tatum isn't Tom Brady. I would argue he is not even Kevin Garnett.

To say the "season is over" just because Tatum is out is insulting, and disrespectful, to the rest of the team. The Celtics averaged 120 points per game during the regular season. Tatum averaged 26.8. The rest of the team still averaged almost 100 points.

The rest of the team is not chop liver. Dare I say, they are not a bunch of Matt Cassels. No offense, Matt. He was great in 2008.

I will give fans credit for being right about one thing following the Tatum injury – the Celtics did look like an entirely different team without Tatum on Wednesday night in Game 4 against the New York Knicks.

They looked better!

The Celtics got contributions from everyone. Everyone felt involved in the game. They all were invested in the game. There was no standing around while one player held the ball for a majority of the play clock. There was no placating the superstar by making sure he touched the ball on every possession.

Perhaps my favorite thing was there was no players flailing their arms up in the air while bickering with referees on almost every possession.

There was players diving for loose balls. There were players buckling down on defense. There was ball movement. Jaylen Brown had 12 assists! Come on, now.

There wasn't any settling for contested deep three-pointers. There was no one just holding onto the basketball for ten seconds.

There were pick and rolls. There were back cuts. There were players not just standing in the corners, but instead cutting along the endline for layups or dunks.

There were high-fives. There were teammates rushing to pick each other up off the court. There was huddling and communication. There was energy.

I know, I know. I know exactly what you might be thinking.

Tony, it's just one game. Luke Kornet is not going to have nine rebounds and seven blocks every game. Derrick White is not going to score 32 points every night. Payton Pritchard is not going to drain five three-pointers on the road in New York. Jalen Brunson ain't going to be picking up five fouls before the end of the third quarter and fouling out early in the fourth, ever again. That was a gift. And don't even get me started about Porzingis.

They are fair points. I'll tell you what, though, and this won't go over well with most Celtics' fans, but I enjoyed watching the Celtics more on Wednesday night than I have any of their other playoff games this year. Maybe even last year.

I found them a lot easier to root for. They played with humility. They played hard. They were going to leave it all on the court. They weren't going to point fingers if they lost. If it happened, it was because they lost to a better team and they were willing to tip their cap.

It was only one game. And the next game is only one game. And the one after that is only one game.

This Celtics' team isn't looking past anyone. They are not looking ahead. They are laser focused on only one thing – one game.