Celtics Year in Review: Top highlights and storylines from wild 12 months originally appeared on NBC Sports Boston
WATCH ANYTIME FOR FREE
 |
Stream NBC10 Boston news for free, 24/7, wherever you are. |
On Jan. 6, 2022, the Boston Celtics fell 108-105 to the New York Knicks to drop to 18-21 on the season and 11th in the Eastern Conference approaching the halfway point of its season.
They've gone 72-32 since then.
Get updates on what's happening in Boston to your inbox. Sign up for our News Headlines newsletter.
The Celtics' 2022 calendar year was marked by one of the most impressive 180s in recent NBA history. It began with Boston morphing into a juggernaut down the stretch of the 2021-22 season, peaked with the team reaching its first NBA Finals in 12 years and is closing with the C's poised for another deep playoff run in 2023.
But one sentence doesn't do the last 12 months justice. From a flurry of February trade deadline deals to the offseason acquisitions of Malcom Brogdon and Danilo Gallinari; from Gallinari's injury to Ime Udoka's suspension and Joe Mazzulla's subsequent takeover; this year has been chock-full of storylines.
Let's reflect on the year that was by revisiting the top Celtics storylines of 2022.
Local
In-depth news coverage of the Greater Boston and New England area.
Part I: Rock bottom
How much has changed in the past 12 months? Consider these takes from our esteemed Celtics analysts (and one reader) in January:
Kendrick Perkins, Jan. 6: "The Celtics are broken right now."
Chris Forsberg, Jan. 7: "The Celtics can stick to their middling course, maybe win a play-in game, and settle for a late-teen draft pick that holds limited value in a quest to infuse needed talent. Or (Brad) Stevens can consider a lottery ticket."
Reader in Chris Forsberg's Celtics Mailbag, Jan. 5: "Chris, why aren’t we talking about trading Tatum? He’s not a 1 but is your most valuable asset and can help restock the cupboard for the future."
So, yeah. Things got bad. The Celtics were in an extended rut, and any solution -- including trading Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown and tanking for a high draft pick -- was on the table. Until ...
Part II: Signs of life and an active trade deadline
... The tide started to turn. With their starting five finally intact after a rash of early-season injuries, the Celtics won 13 of their next 17 games before the Feb. 10 trade deadline, prompting president of basketball operations Brad Stevens to pull the trigger on three deals.
Here's a recap of those moves followed by our reactions at the time:
- Celtics send P.J. Dozier, Bol Bol, a conditional future second-round draft pick and cash considerations to the Orlando Magic for a conditional future second-round draft pick.
- Celtics acquire Derrick White from the San Antonio Spurs in exchange for Josh Richardson, Romeo Langford, Boston's 2022 first-round pick (top-four protected) and the Spurs' right to swap first-rounders with Boston's 2028 first-rounder.
- Celtics acquire Daniel Theis from the Houston Rockets in exchange for Dennis Schroder, Enes Freedom and Bruno Fernando.
Chris Forsberg on the Derrick White trade, Feb. 10: "Outside of the (James) Harden and (Ben) Simmons swap, I felt like Derrick White was one of the best players that was out there. The Celtics got the best player in all their dealings."
Part III: Surge to the postseason
The Celtics went a remarkable 20-6 after the trade deadline and beat the Memphis Grizzlies in their regular-season finale to edge the Milwaukee Bucks for the No. 2 seed in the East.
The Bucks rested their starters for Game 82, content to earn the No. 3 three seed and duck the No. 7 seed Brooklyn Nets in the first round. The Celtics' message: Bring on Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving.
Ime Udoka on Boston's decision to go for the No. 2 seed, April 27: "We’re a basketball team, not a track team. We’re not running from people."
Part IV: Thrilling run to NBA Finals
We could devote hours to each of the Celtics' four 2022 playoff series. Instead, we attempted to single out the best on-court moment and the best quote from a player, coach or analyst from each series.
Round 1 vs. Brooklyn Nets (4-0 Celtics)
Best on-court moment: Tatum's buzzer-beating layup in Game 1. Were you expecting any other answer?
Best quote: Kendrick Perkins after the Celtics won Game 3 to go up 3-0. "The Celtics have snatched the Nets' soul. They're punking them, they punked KD, they done made Kevin Durant quit."
Best on-court moment: Tatum's 46 points on the road in Game 6 to force a Game 7. Honorable mentions go to Al Horford's 30-point outburst in Game 4 (and the nod that started it all) and Grant Williams' clutch 27 points in Game 7. But dropping 46 points on the road in a win-or-go-home situation is next-level stuff.
Best quote: Al Horford on Giannis Antetokounmpo staring him down after a dunk in Game 4. "I don’t know what he said to me, but the way he was looking at me and the way he was going about it really didn’t sit well with me.
"At that point, I think something switched with me in the game.”
Eastern Conference Finals vs. Miami Heat (4-3 Celtics)
Best on-court moment: Brown's massive dunk on Bam Adebayo in Celtics' Game 5 win. Points were hard to come by in this grind-it-out series, but Brown put the Celtics on his back late in Game 5, punctuating the victory with this massive slam that brought Boston's bench to its feet -- and made FTX Arena very quiet.
Best quote: Tatum after the Celtics' Game 7 win. "Saying we need to split the group up, get rid of somebody, or me and JB can't play together... that fueled us."
Best on-court moment: Curry's 43 points in Warriors' Game 4 win. We know, we know. But credit where it's due: Curry's effort was one of the best in NBA Finals history and helped turn the series back in Golden State's favor after Boston went up 2-1. We'll spare you the video highlights.
Best quote: Eddie House and Kendrick Perkins after the Celtics' Game 1 win. House: "(The Warriors) did a whole lot of lying."
Perkins: "They was on their ass like diapers on a baby."
Part V: Offseason optimism
While the players insisted the Finals loss haunted them, the Celtics entered the 2022 offseason as a very good team that only got better when Stevens signed Gallinari and acquired Brogdon from the Pacers in a deal that sent Aaron Nesmith, Daniel Theis, Nik Stauskas, Malik Fitts, Juwan Morgan and a 2023 first-round pick to Indiana.
Many viewed Gallinari and Brogdon as the missing pieces Boston needed to get over the hump.
Eddie House on the Gallinari and Brogdon acquisitions, July 1: "I think that's what lacked in these playoffs. We had depth, but they just didn't show up.
"I think adding these pieces, you have an opportunity for these guys to show up. And these are vets. That's the difference. These are vets that we're going to be depending on coming off the bench as opposed to some real young players that we had last year."
