The Celtics have posted a 35-19 record, ranking them second in the East and fourth overall in the league, as they have been dominant throughout the regular season. Despite winning a championship just two years ago, the Celtics flipped the script and surprisingly are coming out with the same success.
Coming into the 2025-2026 season, most thought the Celtics’ history of supreme success was coming to an end, as the salary cap and injuries seemed to be obstacles the team wouldn’t be able to overcome. The C’s lost three starters from last year, especially in forward Jayson Tatum, the franchise player who led the team in points, rebounds and assists. They also lost guard Jrue Holiday, who averaged 11.1 points per game and was a defensive asset, and center Kristaps Porzingis, who averaged 19.5 points per game, but was mostly handicapped by injuries.
Tatum tore his achilles last year in game four of the Eastern Conference semi-finals against the Knicks and unfortunately ended up being ruled out for the entire 2025-2026 regular season, but he looks to make a comeback if the Celtics make the postseason.
Porzingis and Holiday were traded to the Atlanta Hawks and Portland Trail Blazers, respectively, after the Celtics ran into salary cap problems and had to choose between signing back star players like Tatum and guard Jaylen Brown.
In addition to the lost starters, the Celtics also lost notable rotational players due to the salary cap as well, such as centers Luke Kornet and Al Horford, who both played over 18 minutes a game for the C’s in the 2024-2025 season.
Although the offseason was tough for the Celtics, they were able to bring in key players including guard Anfernee Simons, forward Josh Minott and center Luke Garza with the free cap space to fill in rotational minutes. Simons, an emerging star for C’s this season who was a starter, had actually been traded on Feb. 3 for center Nikola Vucevic, a top rotational player who averages 17 points per game. Like Simmons, Minott also was traded on Feb. 5. So, as far as the results go, the Celtics have been victorious as Boston is competing with some of the best teams in the league and finding success.
Not only have the Celtics found stars from other teams, but they have had bench players step up in roles for the major players that had left. Guard Payton Pritchard and center Neemias Queta are some of the few names who have stepped up into the spotlight as they both took over a starting role and have averaged over ten points a night. They have also changed the culture as Queta leads the team in rebounds with 8.2 a night and Pritchard leads in assists with 5.2 a night.
The Celtics could be looking at not only a playoff berth in the 2025-2026 season, but also a playoff run, and especially with the possibility of the return of Tatum in the postseason being in the picture, the C’s could be a dark horse to win the NBA Finals.
