Post-Midseason Variables That Will Define the Celtics' Journey Towards the NBA Finals

Boston (29-12) had the NBA's best 41-game (midseason) record. But now comes the really hard work - getting better to secure a return trip to the NBA Finals

As the final horn sounded and the Boston Celtics walked off the parquet with yet another victory, the box score had a business-as-usual feel about it. 

Jayson Tatum led all scorers with 32 points to go with eight rebounds and seven assists. Jaylen Brown was the second-best option among the starters, finishing with 19 points.

The bench did its thing, too.

On this night, a 107-99 win over the Chicago Bulls - game number 41 for the Celtics if you’re keeping track at home - it was Grant Williams delivering 20 points as a reserve. 

Tatum scores a bunch of points. 

Brown being the next-best thing among the starters. 

A key reserve steps up as a difference-maker. 

This is why the Boston Celtics (29-12) hit the midway point of the season playing good basketball; good enough to where they have the league’s best overall record. 

So it makes a lot of sense that any kind of midseason report card involving this team would have some really high marks. 

And it’s well-deserved when you consider the amount of turmoil and uncertainty they have had to deal with, from Ime Udoka’s year-long suspension to lead assistant Will Hardy taking over in Utah; to Joe Mazzulla being elevated to interim head coach; to injuries, illnesses and the usual bumps and bruises that come with any NBA season. 

Rather than succumb to the struggles, the Celtics surged ahead of all others and now find themselves positioned as the team everyone is gunning for. 

The Celtics have made a point of spending little time reflecting upon the journey that brought them to this point. 

Instead, they’re locked on the road ahead, a road that will have its share of potholes as they get closer to the playoffs, and what they are anticipating will be a deep playoff run to finish off what they began last season. 

So in that spirit, rather than focus on how amazingly awesome Tatum has been this season and what a wonderful job Mazzulla has done in these trying times, we’ll take a look at three key variables that, depending on how well or woeful Boston handles them, will go far in defining their season which has only one benchmark for success - winning an NBA title.

SCHEDULE

You hear coaches talk all the time about controlling the things you can control.

Unfortunately for them, the schedule isn’t one of them. 

While all teams play 82 games, we have seen repeatedly how all games come with varying degrees of difficulty. 

For example, Boston hosts the New Orleans Pelicans who are currently among the top teams in the Western Conference. 

A good litmus test, right?

Not exactly. 

New Orleans will be without Zion Williamson whose play and presence, or lack thereof in this instance, would have a significant impact on the game if he wasn’t out nursing a right hamstring strain. 

The Pelicans are also without Brandon Ingram (left great toe), making this a significantly uphill fight for New Orleans tonight. 

And that’s just the beginning of the bonus bump Boston should be getting from a schedule that eases up considerably for the rest of the season. 

According to tankathon.com, Boston has the 10th-weakest remaining schedule in the NBA. And of the teams with a weaker schedule, Cleveland (fifth-weakest) is the only team among those with a legit shot at advancing to the NBA Finals - the only goal Boston really has for this season. 

ROSTER HEALTH

A major key for Boston has to be the well-being of their rotation players. While Boston has shown its depth with key injuries and illnesses not interfering with the team’s long-term goals of winning, they are not disillusioned to believe they can win a title without a near-healthy roster. 

That’s why they have been dealing with some variation of strategic load management for a number of players all season.

We knew coming into the season they would try to limit the minutes of 36-year-old Al Horford, the team’s elder statesman who doesn’t come up big nearly as consistently as he has in the pace. That’s in part because of his age, but also because of the role they have him in now.

For most of Horford’s career, the five-time All-Star has played mostly power forward and around the basket. 

With Robert Williams III spending most of this season recovering from offseason knee surgery, Horford has spent more time defensively at the center position while offensively, he has played more away from the basket while being used more along the lines of a catch-and-shoot performer from the wing or behind the 3-point line. 

Boston has also limited the minutes of Williams since his return as well as the playing time of Malcolm Brogdon off the bench. 

Brogdon, Boston’s biggest offseason addition, has been riddled with injuries the last couple of years which is in part why Boston has been overly cautious with keeping his minutes relatively low.

But that’s likely to change once the playoffs arrive, knowing that guys have the capacity to play longer stretches due to their regular-season playing time being limited with the intent being to minimize as best they can, the wear and tear on the player’s bodies.

MANAGING EXPECTATIONS

Coming within two wins of an NBA title last season created a thirst in this team that their leaders, had never felt before. They have been working to get back to where they believe is the top of the NBA mountaintop - the NBA Finals.

The focus began from the season's outset and now that we are just beyond the halfway point of their season, nothing has changed along those lines. 

It’s NBA Finals or bust for this team. 

Yes, Jayson Tatum has emerged as a strong candidate for the league’s MVP award. And Jaylen Brown is playing at an All-NBA level as well. Head coach Joe Mazzulla isn’t being given nearly as much love for the coaching job he has done under some of the most less-than-ideal circumstances any first-year coach in this league has ever experienced. 

But for this group, none of that matters. 

Winning an NBA title. 

How they go about achieving that goal or come up short, will be how this group is defined.