The Boston Celtics are now 24 games into the 2025-26 NBA season, and hold a 15-9 record. They currently sit at third in the Eastern Conference after losing Jrue Holiday, Kristaps Porzingis, Al Horford, and Luke Kornet, and Jayson Tatum has yet to log a single minute of game time.
Their replacements? Anfernee Simons, Luka Garza, Josh Minott, and Hugo Gonzalez.
If you’re reading that line and thinking there’s a sharp talent drop-off there, you’re not the only one. It’s hard to understand how the Celtics could lose so much, but carry on with their winning ways. Well, there are two big things that Boston picked up in the offseason that go hand-in hand, and have combined to be the Celtics X-factor this year: hunger and opportunity.
It’s like a chemical reaction between the two. When you bring in players who are eager to prove themselves, and you give them the chance to do it, you can create something explosive. Sprinkle in the right amount of coaching and encouragement, and you can bottle up that explosion and take it to new heights. Now, the Celtics are playing with an incredible mental toughness that they were criticized for lacking in previous years.
The roster turnaround left a massive void in Boston’s lineup. Over the first several games of the season, there wasn’t any clear-cut player who was blowing us away – but it’s a different story today. Neemias Queta, Jordan Walsh, Josh Minott, Hugo Gonzalez, and even Baylor Scheierman have seized the opportunity in front of themselves, earning significant roles on this team.
Queta had played in 110 regular season games before this season across four years in the NBA. He started in just six of them, all last year. This season, he’s played 22 games and started in all 22 of them, only missing two games so far due to an ankle sprain. He’s earned that starting role while having a career year, averaging 10.1 points, 8.2 rebounds, and 1.4 blocks with a field goal percentage of 65.8% in just 24.2 minutes per game.
Josh Minott was receiving DNPs more often than not in his first three years in the league, each of those spent with Minnesota. That was the same case for Jordan Walsh and Baylor Scheierman in their time here in Boston up until this year. Even Hugo Gonzalez saw limited opportunity while he was playing for Real Madrid over the past three years, averaging 9.4 minutes per game in his international career.
Now, the five of them are hard to keep off the floor. Every night, you can count on at least two of them, if not all of them, to make massive game-shifting plays on both ends of the court.
Walsh went as far as to earn himself a starting role, and he knew his moment would come eventually. He recently mentioned a conversation he had with his agent, saying, “… [my agent] was like, ‘It’s gonna happen. It’s gonna happen. If you work hard, it’ll get rewarded.’”
That’s been the mantra for all of these guys. Work hard, and you’ll be rewarded. Every rebound, every loose ball, every possession, these guys are going above and beyond. With the support of their coaches and teammates, they’re squeezing out every last drop of effort, and it helps that the whole team understands the moment.
For the first time in nearly a decade, the Boston Celtics were not expected to be a good team heading into the season. They are finally, once again, underdogs, reminiscent of the teams led by Isaiah Thomas.
Jaylen Brown, Boston’s longest tenured player, is the last remaining Celtic to be a teammate of IT’s from that time. He’s mentioned on his livestreams that he’s seen fans, media, and even opposing teams expecting this to be a down year for Boston, but he never bought into that himself.
After a standout win against the Lakers, Jaylen had this to say in the post-game press conference: “the expectation level is always the same in my brain… Don’t focus on the end result, focus on what you can control that’s in front of you – winning these possessions, being the harder playing team, all that good stuff.” JB has had to take over as the main leader on the court this year, and it seems as though he’s done a good job of engraining that mindset in his younger teammates.
It can’t go without mentioning that Joe Mazzulla has been extremely demanding of all his players. To those who haven’t yet been familiarized, it may seem like he’s doing too much at times. He’s been especially tough on Queta, Minott, and Gonzalez, at times seen yelling at them from the sideline, or immediately subbing them out after a mistake. The reason it works is because of the relationship he’s first built with the players, making sure they understand that he’s doing it as a teaching moment, not as punishment.
Minott was asked about his relationship with Joe recently, and how he feels about getting scolded mid-game. He said “I love it. You know why? Because it means he’s thinking about me. Every time Joe yells at me, I love it because it’s like, I’m a priority in that moment… I yell back. We love each other.”
Joe has high expectations of his players because he can see their value in practice, and is trying to guide their growth. It’s adding on to the mental toughness of the players, engraining it in their mindset. It says, “if you’re not giving your best, you’re not giving enough.”
Now, all of this isn’t to say that the Celtics are a perfect team. Mindset is only half the battle. The other half is execution. Boston most definitely has their lapses, and sometimes they even get outplayed purely on talent. But now, they bounce back.
On November 21st, the Celtics lost to the Brooklyn Nets in embarrassing fashion. Since then, they’ve played the Orlando Magic, Detroit Pistons, Minnesota Timberwolves, Cleveland Cavaliers, New York Knicks, Washington Wizards, Los Angeles Lakers, and the Toronto Raptors, almost all top teams. They went 7-1 over that stretch, with just a 2-point loss to Minnesota in a game where they erased a 12-point fourth quarter deficit.
In almost every single one of the other games, Boston built up a big lead, fending off second-half pushes to either hold on to, or retake the lead late and secure the win. In their last game, a bout with Toronto, they led by as much as 29 in the third quarter, but the Raptors chipped away, taking a 3-point lead in the fourth. Boston didn’t roll over and give up, though. They fought back and retook a 12-point lead, ultimately winning the game by 8.
Maybe their most impressive win of the stretch was against Detroit, who, at the time, was on a 14-game win streak while sitting atop the Eastern Conference. Not only that, but it was one of the two games Queta missed this year. My words aren’t enough to convey the Celtics effort in that game, so instead I give you the lead tracker from NBA.com.
There were nineteen lead changes in the game. Detroit leading by as much as 10, taking the lead from Boston with just four minutes left of game time, and tying it with just two minutes remaining. But the Celtics held strong. It was a character defining game for them, and it may have unlocked a new level of confidence.
Many fans expected or wanted Boston to tank this year, but the players were never going to give in to that. They all have something to prove, and the value gained from their growth is immeasurable. This is how you build “championship DNA.” This is how you find become successful as an organization. With toughness, grit, and mental fortitude. If you can’t appreciate what these players are doing, then you must not be watching Celtics basketball.
