Can the Celtics Now Zig After They Zagged?
The Joe Mazzulla Celtics were basically the precipice of Steph Curry’s NBA.
Curry reinvented the league with his absurd three-point range and accuracy. Brad Stevens and the Celtics tried to copy-paste his game, doubling and tripling down on it all the way to a championship—sprinkled with a hearty dose of underachievement and “almosts.”
The rest of the league tried to follow suit, but the roster Boston assembled let them take the “three-point attempt percentage” philosophy and crank it to 11.
Even with the Tatum injury excuse, it’s getting harder and harder to pretend this philosophy actually works. Sure, they won a title. That one lonely ring—earned in what many consider the easiest path to a championship in recent memory. But hey, a ring's a ring. We don’t ever take that away from them. Still, the much larger sample size shows this team repeatedly falling short against worse competition.
Someone tell the stat nerds ruining basketball to run the numbers on what happens in Celtics playoff losses versus what the winners are actually doing. Or don’t—I'll do it for you. Jimmy Butler’s Heat, Jalen Brunson’s Knicks, Steph’s Warriors. All understood that playoff basketball is not just jacking up threes like you're farming VC in 2K. Especially not when the stakes are high and every possession matters.
So, here we are. 2026 looming. No Jayson Tatum. Will the Celtics finally grow a spine, zig when the league starts to zag, and ditch the three-point contest strategy? Get ahead of the next movement too? Or will they triple down, with a worse roster mind you, out of sheer stubbornness—or because Joe Mazzulla simply doesn’t have the guts or imagination or skill to change?
It’s time to put Brad Stevens under the microscope too. No denying he's made fantastic moves—Derrick White, bringing back Horford, the Jrue Holiday deal, flipping Smart for Porziņģis. All wins. But let’s not forget—they were all under the “chuck and duck” philosophy.
So, is Brad capable—or even willing—to pivot? To stop copycatting a Curry-era strategy that clearly doesn’t scale in the playoffs?
Next year is the time. With no Tatum, the pressure’s off. The roster will look different. It’s the perfect chance for a mini rebuild or retool. If they do it right—if they remember or learn what actual winning basketball looks like—they might be in a much better spot come 2027, when Tatum’s back and maybe, just maybe, they’ve learned something.
But knowing this team? Don’t hold your breath.