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It’s Jan. 2. If you haven’t completely abandoned your 2025 resolutions already, I can only assume you didn’t make them in the first place. Happy New Year!
Is This Celtics Skid Real? ☘️
What’s up with the Celtics’ recent skid?
The defending champion Celtics waltzed through the Eastern Conference playoffs and NBA Finals last season. After knocking on the door for years, they finally kicked it off its hinges. Their regular-season dominance was historic, as was their playoff run. And they entered this season as the definitive favorites to win it all and be the first repeat champs since the 2018 Warriors. At 24-9, the Celtics are still the favorite (+225) to win the title, as the Thunder (+325) loom, per BetMGM.
The Celtics have been so good over the last year-plus that their recent stretch of losing four of seven games is actually noteworthy. The wins have been monstrous: by 25 points over Chicago, 37 points over Indiana and 54 points over Toronto. Yes, they really beat the Raptors 125-71. But Boston also lost to the Bulls and Pacers (more on the latter defeat here), dropped one to Orlando and was bested by Philadelphia on Christmas Day.
GO DEEPER
‘The Basketball 100’ GOAT Points: A new way to look at the greatest (players) of all time
The Cavs (29-4) are surging away from the Celtics in the East, and the Knicks (24-10) are on a win streak that has closed the gap on Boston for the No. 2 seed. The defending champions are five games behind Cleveland and just a half-game ahead of New York. Let’s look at the six games that came prior to the blowout against Toronto, because a 54-point win will skew some things: During that stretch (2-4), the Celtics ranked fifth in offense but dropped to 15th in defense – pretty terrible on defense by their standards and expectations.
Coach Joe Mazzulla was recently posed a question he loved by Noa Dalzell of CLNS Media, who asked why it is that when players miss shots, it’s considered a slump, but when it comes to bad defense or rebounding, players are considered lazy or to be giving subpar effort. Mazzulla, in the most Mazulla way possible, said it was the most profound statement he had heard in his three years as Boston’s coach. He essentially answered that there are 10-12 possessions a game where they just have to be better and accept that. He didn’t necessarily chalk it up to effort or laziness.
Here are two major areas where Boston slipped during those six games before beating Toronto:
- 23rd in 3-point percentage (previously 13th)
- 18th in 3-point percentage allowed (previously eighth)
- 23rd in free-throw rate (previously 21st)
- Ninth in free-throw rate allowed (previously first)
Ultimately, the 3-point line has not been the Celtics’ friend of late, and they’re no longer keeping opponents off the free-throw line as much. I asked Jay King, our Celtics beat reporter, what’s wrong with the team, and here’s what he said:
“Before getting right with an easy win over the Raptors, the Celtics were shooting just 34.4 percent on 3-point attempts during December — that almost seems impossible given the shooting talent on the roster. Their defense has slipped from second to seventh this season — it has still been good, just not as elite as the Celtics usually defend.”
Jay also mentioned the Celtics’ regular starting lineup has played only 85 minutes together all season. The 3-point shooting slippage in December is interesting. Sound floor-spacing set them apart last season, and seven of their eight guys in the rotation shot above league-average from deep. So far this season, that’s down to five of their eight shooting above league average.
Maybe the Raptors reminded Boston how to execute and play, and it popped the Celtics out of their slump. Let’s see if this skid is just that, or a bigger trend, after Boston faces the Timberwolves (17-15), Rockets (22-11), Thunder (27-5) and Nuggets (19-13) all on the road this next week.
The Last 24
Bryce James chooses his school
🏀 LeBron’s youngest son commits. Bryce, 17, announced on Instagram he’ll play for Arizona next season.
📏 What a great pic! Josh Robbins posted a new picture of Gheorghe Muresan (7-foot-7) and Muggsy Bogues (5-foot-3). It’s a must-see.
🙏 Get well soon. Detroit’s Jaden Ivey was stretchered off the court last night after suffering an apparent leg injury.
✍️ David Aldridge always delivers, so just enjoy him profiling Alex Sarr finding his stride with the Wizards (more on them below).
🏀 Knicks brotherhood. Josh Hart used to not like Mikal Bridges. James Edwards III brings it once again.
🤔 Trade chatter Does Jimmy Butler want to remain in Miami? Even he’s unsure at this point.
👀 Sam Amick explains why the Kings must do better by De’Aaron Fox.
📺 Don’t miss this game tonight. Celtics at Timberwolves, 7:30 p.m. ET on TNT. Anthony Edwards talking trash to the Celtics is good money.
📺 All-defense game. Clippers (19-14) at Thunder, 8 p.m. ET on League Pass. If you want some throwback ’90s hoops, these are the two defenses for you.
Rank ‘Em!
Top three, middle three, bottom three
We normally do this section on Tuesdays, but thanks to the holiday this week, we’re shaking things up by ranking teams on a Thursday! As always, we won’t just leave you with the top three- and bottom-three teams in the NBA, we also give you the controversial middle three — team Nos. 14, 15 and 16. (Here are Law Murray’s weekly NBA Power Rankings, if you’d like to rank in full.)
Top three: Cleveland Cavaliers (29-4), OKC Thunder (27-5), Boston Celtics (24-9)
I keep wondering if the Cavs are going to be able to do this type of stuff in the postseason, but I’ve decided to stop qualifying their play with that. This team has been dominating on a historic level. Cleveland is the real deal right now and indicating it will be in April and May. I keep forgetting the Thunder still don’t have 22-year-old Chet Holmgren back, which is a good reminder that OKC will somehow get better than what we currently see. And while the Celtics have looked a little vulnerable this past week or so, there’s no reason to think they aren’t still the favorites to win the entire thing if they’re healthy.
Middle three: LA Clippers (19-14), LA Lakers (18-14), Miami Heat (17-14)
I know Cleveland’s Kenny Atkinson will likely be the favorite for Coach of the Year, but what Ty Lue has done with this Clippers team deserves your full consideration, especially considering Kawhi Leonard hasn’t played yet. This team is as well-coached as any in the league. The Lakers’ acquisition of Dorian Finney-Smith for D’Angelo Russell is intrguing. It’s addition by addition and addition by subtraction. The Heat are playing better lately, and we could easily see them go on a run for the next few games. Is any of this a showcase for Jimmy Butler or Tyler Herro?
Bottom three: Toronto Raptors (8-26), New Orleans Pelicans (5-29), Washington Wizards (6-25)
I can’t believe it either! I thought the Jazz, Pelicans and Wizards would be locks for the bottom three for pretty much the rest of the season, but that’s not the case. The Jazz have played just well enough to get out of here, while the Raptors have been on a slide reminiscent of when they tanked the final third of last season. Toronto has lost 11 of its last 12, finally winning last night. The Pelicans have gotten healthier but are still missing Zion Williamson and Brandon Ingram. They’ve also lost 11 straight. The Wizards are 4-1 against the Hawks and Hornets. They’re 2-24 against everybody else.
Throwback Thursday
Two years ago today, Spida made history
There have been 15 games in NBA history in which a player has scored 70 points or more. (And yes, Wilt Chamberlain has six of them. He will always skew so many of these individual scoring accomplishments.) When Kobe Bryant dropped 81 points in 2006, it was the first time someone cleared 70 since David Robinson in 1994. When Devin Booker dropped 70 in 2017, it was the first time in 11 years it had been done. And we’ve had four games of 70 or more in the last two years!
That recent run kicked off with Donovan Mitchell’s 71-point outing two years ago today, and the way he did it was an offensive feat we have literally never seen before. You would have never known Mitchell was going to do this at halftime of that night’s Bulls-Cavs game. At that point, he had just 16 points on 5-of-10 shooting. Then, he went off in the third quarter.
Mitchell dropped 24 points in the third period alone before following it up with a brilliant fourth quarter. The Cavs needed every single one of these points. With 4.7 seconds left and the Bulls up three, they fouled Mitchell to prevent him from putting up a potential game-tying 3-pointer. Mitchell scored his 56th point on the first free throw, but then needed to intentionally miss the second so the Cavs could try to tie it up. Mitchell took care of all of that in one fell swoop.
What’s the success rate for intentionally missing a free throw to try to get another bucket for the tie? Does that work even five percent of the time? Mitchell’s magical night made it work here, so he sent it to overtime. That’s where he continued his ridiculous scoring. Mitchell had 13 points on four shots, making all three of his 3-pointers, a layup and two free throws to outscore the Bulls 13-4 by himself.
He finished with 71 points and 11 assists. It gave Mitchell the only 70-point double-double with assists in league history. Even if his regulation stat line stood on its own that night, only James Harden had ever scored at least 58 points and recorded at least 11 assists in a game. Yes, Mitchell needed OT, which might make people discount a 70-point night in some way. But it was one of the most ridiculous nights in NBA history.
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(Top photo: Maddie Meyer / Getty Images )
