How The Boston Celtics Fell Back To Earth In January

On Friday, the Boston Celtics looked to salvage their January with a road win against an injury-plagued New Orleans Pelicans team near the bottom of the Western Conference standings. They managed to win, improving their record to 34-15, but only after a far-too-difficult 118-116 nailbiter that required a Jayson Tatum game-winner.

It was a little over a month ago, that the Celtics lost back-to-back games for the first time all season. At the time, it felt like it would be an overreaction to be too concerned. After all, the C’s started the season playing like their dominant 2023-24 selves. If there were anything to worry about, it would emerge in the next few weeks when we would have more data to determine whether it was a mere aberration or a harbinger of things to come.

Well, the results are now in, and they haven’t been mixed at best. Throughout January, the Celtics suffered a string of brutal losses. There was a shocking 114-97 home loss to the Sacramento Kings, a 117-96 blowout road loss to the Los Angeles Lakers and a fourth-quarter collapse against the Houston Rockets, all of which competed for the title of Worst Loss Of The Season.

Boston hasn’t played its best even in its wins. The Celtics’ 117-113 road win over the Los Angeles Clippers featured them losing a late lead that forced them to play an easily-avoidable overtime period. They ended up playing an additional five minutes of basketball to seal the deal.

On CelticsBlog, writer Nirav Barman provided the most understandable explanation for Boston’s recent struggles: the team is not blowing out opponents like it did last season. The defending champions are facing their opponents’ best efforts on a night-by-night basis, meaning that it’s been a series of dogfights.

These close games mean that the team is playing fewer garbage-time minutes than it did last season, requiring starters to play heavier minutes in a more stressful environment. As a result, the Celtics are playing tighter basketball and expending more energy, meaning that this season has been more of a struggle.

It’s not like the Celtics have necessarily been playing terrible basketball in the new year, just that they now looking like just a good team rather than world-beaters. While January has seemed like it’s been a losing month for Boston, it put up a 10-6 record during a stretch that included their first West Coast road trip. They remain in second place in the East with the third-best overall record in the NBA.

However, that 34-15 record is a bit misleading, partly padded by the Celtics’ red-hot start. It also is disheartening that the team began playing its sloppiest basketball when Kristaps Porzingis returned from offseason surgery. In theory, Boston should have improved with its starting center back in the lineup for good. Instead, not only has its offense struggled in January but its defense has continued a troubling trend of allowing opposing players notch career nights against it.

While some of what’s going on with the Celtics is partly just a regression to the mean after they overperformed last season, it’s also clear that there is room for improvement.

Some of that could happen if the team gets healthier or if its three-point shooting returns to early-season form. It also might be time for the front office to roll the dice once again and break up last year’s roster by making changes at the February 9 trade deadline. (It should also be noted that the Celtics still have an empty roster spot to play with.)

Of course, a fall back to Earth was always inevitable eventually. Basketball was not as easy as last season’s Celtics team made it appear to be. The Celtics are still one of the NBA’s best teams and still should be one of the favorites to win the title, but they are learning firsthand why it’s so difficult for teams to repeat.