Sean Grande

There is no one who's played for the Celtics, no one who's coached the Celtics, no one who's called Celtics games, no one...who better represents what it means to be one, than Jeff Twiss.

He is the keeper of the Celtics legacy.

And now he..is a basketball immortal.

Perfection.

Pretty color calendar version hot off the e-presses...

And that, begs this subplot question...

The Celtics have gone 11 years (December 2014) and 866 games without a five game losing streak.

Celtics have a season-high 5-game road trip at Christmas, but could this be the biggest threat?

Now that the schedule is out...will the Celtics make the playoffs?

Boston of course has the longest active streak of making it (11). In fact, there have only been 18 streaks in NBA history of 11+ post-season appearances.

The Celtics have three of those 18...

But enough of the tasting menu, here's the whole thing...

Reunion week....

Jrue Holiday returns to Boston: Mon. Jan. 26
Kristaps Porzingis returns to Boston: Wed. Jan. 28

Luke Kornet (and that Spurs other center) in Boston Sat. Jan. 10.

Two of the four NBA Cup Group Play Celtics games will be nationally televised...

Oct. 31 in Phily and Nov. 26, the day before Thanksgiving, a 5pm start vs. Detroit.

Other two will be Nov. 7 in Orlando and Nov. 21 vs. Brooklyn.

Add Oct. 24 at NY and Jan. 19 at Detroit, rest gets released tomorrow.

Simons, by the way, just turned 26.

He hasn't been very healthy, but has developed into a plus-shooter the last few years (39% from 3, 89% from the line the last five years.)

And in case you weren't feeling old enough, yes, his parents named him after Anfernee "Penny" Hardaway.

The inevitable quickly becomes reality.

And with it, dies the idea that we can ever compare teams from the 2020's, with NBA teams from other eras across multiple years.

OKC is our 7th champion in 7 years.

And this is clearly what the NBA is now designed to produce.

Points off turnovers: 32-10, OKC.

Shot margin decided Game 7.

Pacers outshot the Thunder from the floor, from 3 and from the line...

...but OKC got 17 extra shots, and wins by 12.

Former Celtic Aaron Nesmith in Game 7:
On court: 30 minutes: +6
Off court: 18 minutes: Pacers were -18

2022 Celtics
Under .500 on Jan. 1
8 games out in the East
35-12 finish
8-3 on the road in the playoffs...
...a 2-1 lead in the NBA Finals

2025 Pacers
Under .500 on Jan. 1
13½ games out in the East
34-14 finish
6-3 on the road in the playoffs...
...a 2-1 lead in the NBA Finals

I did not know how universal it is for the color commentator to walk all over the call. We really are all the same.

The Knicks fall short in their quest for their first NBA title since 1973.

In 18 playoff games, they ended up scoring the exact same number of points as they gave up...

...1972

Higher seed loses in unfathomable fashion at the start.

Home team loses the first three.

Home team wins the final three, including staving off elimination with a Game 5 blowout, and closing it out easily in Game 6.

The Knicks' series with Boston and Indiana were mirror images.

Road team in the Eastern Conference Playoffs...

Conference Quarter-Finals: 11-9
Conference Semi-Finals: 4-7
Conference Finals: 0-3

Overall: 15-19

Knicks are 6-1 on the road heading into Game 4 at the Fieldhouse Tuesday night...

6 wins by a total of 18 points.

If this is starting to look familiar...

Through two games of the Conference Finals:

'25 Oklahoma City
10-3 (+14.1 differential)

'24 Boston
10-2 (+11.3 differential)

Pacers had a 99.8% chance to win Game 1 of last year's ECF...Celtics win.

Celtics had a 98.3% chance to win Game 1 in Boston two weeks ago...Knicks win.

Knicks had a 99.7% chance to win Game 1 tonight...Pacers win.

...all this to say, while OKC (26-point winners in Game 1 of the WCF) try to win a championship and preserve the long-standing sanctity of the regular season/scoring margin, it is time to ponder how close we are to becoming the NHL…where just "making the tournament”, not the seed, is the goal?

The Cavs by the way (9.54) finished with the 5th best margin in NBA history to NOT win the title, Celtics finished 8th. No team in an 82-game season ever finished with a +9.52 and failed to make the Conference Finals...

Even crazier, in a playoff run that will obviously be remembered as a disappointment, the 2024-25 Celtics, who finished with a 9.11 scoring margin (5th best in franchise history, 22nd in NBA history), were actually running ahead of that (9.90) in the playoffs until Game 6.

It hasn’t felt like the time to do mathematical forensics on what we all saw, but before we put the work away for the summer, this was the oddest stat of a truly odd playoff series.

The Celtics played 186 halves this year.

Two of their worst (Game 6) came immediately after one of their best.

Celtics at Knicks – Madison Square Garden – May 16, 2025 – Game 6 Starters

Boston – Holiday, White, Brown, Horford, Kornet

New York – Jalen Brunson, Mikal Bridges, OG Anunoby, Josh Hart, Karl-Anthony Towns

OUT – Boston: Tatum New York: None

If you missed the logistics last night, the Celtics' Game 5 win, combined with the Wolves ending their series with the Warriors, means an 8:13pm tip at MSG tomorrow.

Mike, Doris and RJ on ESPN.

The Boston win also locked the Eastern Conference Finals dates...

Celtics trailed by 9, 42-33, with 8:30 remaining in the first half.
They were shooting 43% with 6 turnovers.

In the final 32:30, Boston...

* Outscored New York 94-60
* Shot 57%, 48% from 3
* 21 assists/3 turnovers
* Pritchard +31, Brown +30, White+29
* Bridges -33, Hart -24

In a spectacular meet-the-moment night from Jaylen Brown and the game of his life for Luke Kornet, this dude got overlooked...

576th NBA game for Derrick White.

Just the 3rd time he's gotten 11 free throws.

4th time he's scored 34...

...3 of those 4 have been playoff games.

The Celtics are 16-16 in franchise history when facing elimination on the road.

But they've won five straight going back to the Tatum game in Milwaukee three years ago.

The Knicks have eliminated Boston four times (1972, 1973, 1990, 2013), but never at Madison Square Garden.

3

With a win in Game 5, the Celtics have now matched the franchise's best record following a loss.

CELTICS - BEST RECORD AFTER A LOSS
(Last 50 years)

1981: 22-3
2025: 22-3
1986: 15-3
1982: 18-4
2024: 17-4
1985: 21-5
1980: 19-5
2008: 20-6
1984: 21-7
2009: 18-7

For the second straight year, the Knicks have one home game for a trip to the Eastern Conference Finals.

That despite getting outscored by 7 points a game in the series. A win Friday (or especially Monday) for New York would likely land them on this list as well...

The Celtics 1.396 points/possession in Game 5 was their 5th best offensive night in 92 games this year.

It was the 3rd time they've done it in 47 home games. And who have they done it against?

Opening night Vs. New York
Dec. 27 vs. Indiana
Game 5 tonight vs. New York