Boston Celtics: Identity issues holding team from ceiling

The Boston Celtics have been a participant in the Eastern Conference Finals for the past two seasons, albeit with completely different rosters. As underdogs, their try-hard mentality and infallible toughness got them further than their current talent seems to be doing.

For Boston Celtics fans, it would be completely reasonable to hit the panic button on a regular season that has seemed to derail the team into a forrest of unknowns.

At the same time, it would be just as reasonable to look to the team’s recent postseason track record and talented roster as an indicator that they will be just fine these playoffs.

Boston fans have been completely spoiled the past few seasons. Disregarding success from sports teams outside of the basketball realm, they really had no business expecting the Celtics rebuild to happen as swiftly as it did. Savvy front office moves and pure, unadulterated luck played just as big a part in their newfound contender status as player development in the post-Big 3 era.

By letting the Brooklyn Nets do the tanking for them, Boston was able to build a team of scrappy castaways and put them in a position to compete in ways other lottery-bound teams were not.

Those scrappy overachievers are nowhere to be found on this most recent incarnation of the Boston Celtics (literally and figuratively). They have all the talent in the world and so far, nothing to show for it but a lousy, unconvincing three quarters of a season for a team of “contender” status.

An undeniable part of what made the Celtics previous few seasons seem like there was a little extra fire to the group was how it felt, in mostly every single postseason matchup, they were counted out and had the world against them.

This was entirely evident in the Isaiah Thomas years, especially the 2016-17 season. From their initial struggles with a heavily experienced and talented Chicago Bulls team, to the passing of Thomas’ sister, Boston had no shortage of rightful skepticism on how successful the team could be.

Last season, the whole world saw the Hospital Celtics in action. Without a huge chunk of their payroll — missing Kyrie Irving and Gordon Hayward — the young Celtics took the playoffs by storm with a swagger and confidence that they rode all the way to Game 7 of the conference finals.

What drove both these teams was their ability to overcome adversity. The Isaiah Thomas Celtics were horrendously undersized and honestly, not overly talented, yet fought tooth-and-nail with every team, refusing to give an inch. The Hospital Celtics would not allow their missing stars to define their season, and instead let their young talent put the league on notice.

This current team lacks that passion, or at least, they haven’t shown their fans, and they damn sure have not shown their competition the same passion that made the Boston Celtics of yesteryears so fun.

Sure, they’ve shown up a few times when it’s really mattered this season. You have to give them credit, they have guaranteed at least a series tie against all the elite Eastern Conference teams and have put on a show at the TD Garden for Celtics fans all year long.

However, a contending team should not be sub-.500 on the road, and especially should not drop multiple games to league bottom-feeders. For reference, the top three teams in the East have a combined road record of 57-33. In a stretch that will determine seeding, the Milwaukee Bucks, Toronto Raptors and Indiana Pacers all have the luxury of confidence in their road performances. The Celtics, at 14-16? Not so much.

A contending team should not lose three straight games when the season is quite possibly on the line. As much as the Celtics have had the Philadelphia 76ers‘ number, nobody in New England wants a team that talented playing four games on the road in the first round.

Going into the All-Star break, Boston had to be confident regarding the rest of the year. Since that weekend, a feeling of doom and gloom seems to be the only reasonable emotion.

Losing a heartbreaker to the Bucks, on their court, is understandable. Losing a lopsided game to the Chicago Bulls hurts, but had all the fixings of a trap game. Losing a blowout to the Toronto Raptors, a divisional rival and their direct competition in the Eastern Conference seeding, is nothing short of gut punch.

Great Boston teams have been just as much about their heart as they’ve been about talent throughout franchise history.

Until this team proves they can flip that switch and activate a postseason mode that enables them to put their foot on the gas and never let up, they’ll go down as nothing more than an über-talented yet disappointing squad.