The Celtics Are Off To One Of Their Worst Starts In Franchise History And It Remains Unclear When They'll Finally Win A Game

Nic Antaya. Getty Images.

As a franchise, the Boston Celtics have existed for 80 seasons. They are the most successful franchise in basketball history, whether you want to point to their NBA-leading 3,695 all time wins or their NBA-leading 18 championships. If you'd like to narrow things down to just the last handful of years to when Joe Mazzulla took over in 2022-23, the Celtics lead the NBA in wins, playoff wins, road playoff wins, all while securing a banner of their own.

In 2025-26? Welcome to their new reality. That reality, unfortunately, is one of the worst starts in franchise history. I know that may seem a bit hyperbolic, but you have to remember what franchise we're talking about here. Now 0-3 to start the season, this is something we haven't experienced in 10 years (that team won 25 games). In fact, it's only the 10th time a Celtics team has ever started the season 0-3

If you're curious, here are the win totals for those seasons:

1949-50: 22 wins

1950-51: 39 wins

1969-70: 34 wins

1970-71: 44 wins

1977-78: 32 wins

1994-95: 35 wins

2006-07: 24 wins

2013-14: 25 wins

Everyone beginning to understand what we're dealing with? 

Now, what if I were to tell you that there's not exactly a light at the end of the tunnel when it comes to their immediate future. Should the Celtics fall to NO tonight and drop to 0-4 (a very real possibility), they would be just the 2nd Celtics team ever to begin an NBA season 0-4 (1969-70)

Allow me to explain. When you take a look at the start of the Celts' schedule, knowing what you know about the team and their problem areas and how that impacts winning, where on this list do you say to yourself, "That should definitely be a win"?

Recent history tells you UTA/WSH might be the ones, but they've both been frisky to start the season, and I'm pretty sure Walker Kessler is going to have 20 rebounds in that game, so I can't just automatically declare that a Celtics win. Already 0-3, there are 11 games left on that list. I'm not trying to be hyperbolic or funny when I say I'm not sure the Celts will be favored in any of them. Maybe the MEM game, since their entire roster is injured and that's at home? 

So is it inconceivable to think we may be looking at a 2-12 start where their first win might not come until early November? Worse? 

Taking a step back and reminding yourself of the bigger picture, in a way this is exactly the start the 2025-26 Celts need to be having. And while that may be true, I also think it's OK to address the fact that living this life fucking sucks. To do it for a year in a "gap year" because your franchise player tore his achilles and you had to reset the roster to get under the 2nd apron is one thing. But there are franchises that live like this year after year after year. I don't know how those fanbases do it.

This type of futility is something that, as a fan, I have the capacity to handle for 1 season. Remember this little stretch in 2006-07 where the Celts lost 18 in a row and only won 1 game in 2 months?

We were able to deal with that because it helped land a pick that was then flipped for Ray Allen, which then led to KG, which then led to the greatest turnaround in NBA history and an NBA title. You can suck, but you can really only suck for one year.

For the most part, I'd say the majority of Celts fans understood what this year was always going to be. The second Brad Stevens built the roster the way he did, a start/results like we've seen to start the year shouldn't surprise anyone. You cannot enter an NBA season with the worst frontcourt situation in the league, with a bunch of unproven young players, and without your best player and think things aren't going to be a complete disaster. Especially when your biggest issue (rebounding) is arguably the most important factor in winning basketball games.

I can admit, the whole thing is a bit weird for my brain. After a decade of contending where the expectation was to win, it's a bit of a trip to trick my brain into being OK with the very real possibility that the Celtics could very well be the worst team in the NBA. In a sick and twisted system, that's actually the best thing possible for them long term, even if it means we're exposed to some of the worst basketball you could ever possibly watch on a nightly basis for the foreseeable future.

But that's the beauty of the blog. Together, we blog through it. We don't just show up in the wins or when the Celts are title favorites. We grind through the darkness and the pain. With that said, let us begin.

The Good

- Part of the thinking of how the Celts would win games this year was if Jaylen Brown could take on the additional scoring responsibility of being a #1 option. That if he could produce while being efficient, that might be enough to carry the team over the finish line.

Well, after watching him go for an efficient 41 points against one of the best defenses in the NBA, I think we can say that not even great Jaylen performances are enough to cover up the underlying issues

While his TOs have also gone up (4.3), Jaylen has started the season averaging 29.7 points a game on 61.8% TS%. That's a level that most would have said the #1 option needed to get to on this version of the team, and for the most part Jaylen has help up his end of the bargain. There's no excusing his carelessness with the ball against the Knicks, but 41/6/4 on 12-25 (5-9) while giong 12-15 from the FT line is about as good as someone could realistically expect given the circumstances.

Did it matter? Not really. Because to win in the NBA, you need more than just 1 guy playing well. This is true for this version of the team, it was true with the previous versions of the team, that's just basketball. 

So when you hear all this shit about "Jaylen Brown 1st option hoops" or whatever, it's a bit disingenuous. He's started the season about as well as you could possibly ask. I'd personally like a little better ball security, but overall? 30 a game on 62% TS% is All NBA production. He's 3rd on the team in rebounding, and his 49/50% splits are easily the best on the team, even at his high volume.

What we're seeing is the true challenge and responsibility that comes with being "The Guy". You can play great, but if the team is losing, that still falls on you. It's not fair, but that's how it works. I'd say Jaylen is pretty far down on the list of reasons the Celts find themselves 0-3, but as the leader and The Guy for this version of the team, things will always go back to him. That's how these things work. That's something Tatum learned very early on, and it's something we're going to have to see Jaylen deal with all year. 

- If this season is truly about development and finding some players that could, in theor,y be worth keeping around for the next iteration of the roster, then I'd say the play of both Josh Minott and Hugo Gonzalez are two positive takeaways from this disaster start.

With Minott, it was a bit off he was a DNP-CD against the Knicks, because we saw right away with his energy/length/athleticism can do once he actually gets some real run

His own personal 10-0 run is what helped the Celts make things interesting in the 4th quarter, and just like in the preseason, we're seeing just enough flashes to at least have you intrigued. I'm not saying this guy is ready for 35 minutes and to be a full time starter, but I do think we're in a position to give him consistent rotation minutes at the 4. How much worse can things get? Considering how important it is to find a low cost young player who can actually play moving forward, there's no reason why Minott shouldn't continue to get some reps, especially if they're going to look like last night.

With Hugo, I would say don't even worry about the offense/shooting just yet. That will all come in time. What I remain impressed with is how great he's been as a defender, pretty much right away. He's taking the best player on the other team every night, his 94 feet of ball pressure is intoxicating, and given that his role is to bring energy and cause chaos, that's exactly what he's doing

Advertisement

Do you know the level of trust Joe has to have in a 19 year old rookie to immediately give him both the Jalen Brunson and Cade Cunningham assignments? Against Brunson, it was 4 points on 11 possessions (all FTs). Against Cade? In 16 total possessions, he held him to just 3 points on 1-5 shooting.

At 19 years old, in his first 2 NBA games.

If you can't find the positives in that, you're just choosing to ignore what's in front of your face. That is VERY impressive. 

- OK, time to move on

The Bad

- Where do we start? For me, I think it makes sense ot begin at one of the main factors in my opinion that the Celts find themselves in an 0-3 hole. It's already hard for this team to win, but it's virtually impossible of their #2, #3, and #4 options are all having horrific starts to their season

Advertisement

What we're seeing is the reality of everyone moving up a spot in the team's hierarchy. Both Derrick and Payton are really struggling to create advantages off the dribble as primary ball handlers. Their shot profiles have changed a bit, and the results as you can see, are pretty awful. Simons was supposed to be the scoring punch off the bench, but he hasn't been able to shoot either.

So as you can see, even with Jaylen stepping up and producing in an efficient manner, what good does that do if the rest of the roster can't score? Only Sam Hauser has proven he can hit an open jumper, and to me this just illustrates one of the most obvious issues heading into the season.

With much worse spacing and lesser offensive gravity now that Tatum isn't on the floor, everyone's shots are just a little bit more contested. Now, players are asked to score in ways that are not their strength. No shit things are going to look much worse compared to what we're used to when everyone was filling their normal roles. 

Through 3 games, the Celts own the 21st ranked offense in the NBA. Their TS%? 24th. Their eFG%? 22nd. Their 3P%? 28th. When you can't rebound and you can't make open jumpshots, I'm not sure what people expect.

- It's a pretty fun fact that in all 3 games we've seen the Celts make more FGM and shoot a better FG% than their opponent, yet still lose all 3 games. That's something I didn't even really know was possible, yet here we are. One would think that if you put the ball in the basket more than your opponent, you would win, but not when it comes to the 20250-26 Boston Celtics.

- As expected, the defense fucking stinks. Sorry for cursing, but that's the truth. Pick an area, and it's been bad. Point of attack? Bad. Rim protection/defensive rebounding? Horrific. Defending without fouling? Pretty awful. 

So just think about it. On one end, the Celtics can't hit a shot. On the other end, they can't get a stop, and even when they do get an initial miss, they still give up the OREB. I'm not a big math guy, but when you add those two things together, how would one expect the result to be a win? It doesn't.

- It's not an accident that all 3 losses have ultimately come down to one dogshit quarter. 42 in the 4th against the Sixers, 42 in the 2nd against the Knicks, and 36 in the 2nd against the Pistons. They continue to start strong, only to immediately give it all back, which at this point I do not consider random. This is how things will go, especially with their deficiencies in clear areas, all while being unable to hit a jumper. 

The Ugly

- The only thing we need to talk about in this section is the overall biggest issue with the roster and what is ultimately going to define their season.

This is the worst rebounding team I have ever seen in my entire life. We knew that heading in, we saw it in the preseason, and through 3 games, it's been the story in every single loss

Turns out, losing 3 different 7fters and a 6'10 PF who is your best rebounder hurts your ability to rebound, which just so happens to be a pretty important component of winning. That's not me saying it. That's red Auerbach saying it

The Celts have started the season

30th in opponent OREB

30th in opponent 2nd chance points

30th in DREB%

29th in REB%

They are quite literally, the worst rebounding team in the NBA, and by a comfortable margin. Last night, they paid for it by allowing an ABSURD 30 2nd chance points. 30!!!! At some point, your roster is your roster. And you know what? Brad Stevens knew this when he built it.

He knew his championship core players would play to win. He also knew the situation and context around the Celts season. So what did he do? He made sure to lower their ceiling, even if the core guys play well. How do you do that? You create the worst rebounding team in the league. If you don't rebound, you don't win. Period. That's been true for as long as the game of basketball as been around. And how do we know this? Just look at every other year of the Joe Mazzulla Era when it came to this area

You mean to tell me, more complete rosters that had an actual frontcourt were able to handle the glass, which then translated to wins?

Giphy Images.

Advertisement

Brad is no dummy. He knows what it takes to win in the NBA, and he definitely knows what a losing roster looks like (he coached the 2013-14 team). He told us all what he was doing the second he put this roster together over the summer, and really all that's happened is it's producing like most expected. Now go back and look at their upcoming games on that schedule graphic and see the type of size that's on the horizon, and you tell me when that first win is coming.

Now on a B2B tonight against the Pelicans, maybe we'll finally get some shooting variance luck and the Celts will sneak out with a win. If not, and they drop to 0-4? At some point, the hole is going to be too big to dig out of, which for 99.9% of teams would spell disaster, but for this year it might actually be the best thing to ever happen to them.

What a weird season already.