Episodes
After five trips to the Eastern Conference finals over the previous six seasons, the Boston Celtics have finally hung Banner 18. And while winning Banner 19 is the logical next step for the Celtics, if the path to Boston's current title has taught us anything, it's that there are a lot of moves required to push a team over the top. To that end, the hosts of the CLNS Media "Celtics Lab" podcast linked up with "How Bout Them Celtics" cohost Jack Simone to take stock of what Boston likely has on...
Published 06/20/24
They did the thing, finally. The Boston Celtics are your 2024 NBA Champions after a historic 2023-24 NBA regular season and an equally historic run to the long-coveted Banner 18. The game and series were won with teamwork and defense in classic Boston style, sending beloved Boston broadcaster Mike Gorman off with a proper closeout to a storied career. With the win, Celtics mystique has been reborn, a new generation of superstars established, and a new era of greatness for the most storied...
Published 06/18/24
The Boston Celtics have taken a commanding 3-0 series lead vs. the Dallas Mavericks in the 2024 NBA Finals, thanks to some clutch play from Jaylen Brown and Jayson Tatum as they combined for 61 points in Boston's 106-99 Game 3 victory, and elite defense late in the game's second half. That the win came with star Celtics center Kristaps Porzingis having to sit out the game with an injury sustained n game 2 makes the outcome even more impressive given the haymakers Dallas threw early. Now,...
Published 06/13/24
The Boston Celtics beat the Dallas Mavericks 105-98 in Game 2 of their 2024 NBA Finals series to take a 2-0 series lead at TD Garden this past Sunday (June 9) night. This puts the Mavs in a position that 36 other teams in the finals have found themselves in: a 0-2 series deficit, something only 5 of those teams have ever come back from. Can the Mavs win Game 3 at home now that the series shifts to Texas, and increase the odds of becoming the sixth-ever ball club to accomplish such a tough...
Published 06/10/24
The Boston Celtics took Game 1 of the 2024 NBA Finals in emphatic fashion thanks to a surprisingly spry Kristaps Porzingis in his first game in the '24 NBA Playoffs in over a month, and perhaps the best defensive game of Jaylen Brown's career. Even on a night that saw Jayson Tatum go 6-of-16 from the floor, he still found ways to impact the game, and Boston as a whole limited Dallas to just 9 assists and 4 shot attempts between bigs Daniel Gafford and Derrick Lively II. The Celtics roared out...
Published 06/07/24
The Boston Celtics will take the court against the Dallas Mavericks in the 2024 NBA Finals on this coming Thursday (June 6) evening at TD Garden. And despite the fact that Boston was widely seen as a chief contender even before the 2023-24 regular season and the Mavs much less so, both clubs share a number of parallels that should make this an absolutely scintillating finals matchup. The prodigal sons of Kyrie Irving and Kristaps Porzingis not only returning to face their former teams, but...
Published 06/03/24
The Boston Celtics punched their ticket to the 2024 NBA Finals when they defeated the Indiana Pacers in just four games to win the league's Eastern Conference finals, and now we have Boston's finals opponent set with a winner for the Western Conference finals as well. That victor will be the Dallas Mavericks, who needed five games to beat the Minnesota Timberwolves in the West finals on this past Thursday (May 30) night. The matchup will be laden with narratives we have been hearing for years...
Published 05/31/24
The Boston Celtics beat the Indiana Pacers 105-102 in Game 4 of their 2024 Eastern Conference finals, sweeping the Pacers to advance to the 2024 NBA Finals as they await to see which of the Dallas Mavericks and Minnesota Timberwolves Western Conference finals series. The Celtics will have a 10-day gap between the final buzzer and the start of the finals, plenty of time for injured Boston big man Kristaps Porzingis to finish healing up, and veteran forward Al Horford to get a little rest....
Published 05/28/24
The Boston Celtics defeated the Indiana Pacers 126-110 in Game 2 of the NBA's 2024 Eastern Conference finals thanks to a career playoff-high matching 40 points from Jaylen Brown. But it came at the expense of backup big man Luke Kornet's wrist being sprained on a team already thin at center; will Boston be okay with Kornet on the bench?. On the other side of the court, however, we saw Pacers star Tyrese Halliburton leave the game injured in the second half with what initially appeared to be a...
Published 05/24/24
Game 1 of the Boston Celtics Eastern Conference finals series with the Indiana Pacers is in the books, and the Celtics have a 1-0 series lead with their 133-128 win.  But it took overtime to pull it off, and Boston digging deep with a few lucky breaks to pull out the win, a few minor mistakes over the course of the contest nearly costing them the win in their own arena of TD Garden (and home court advantage with it). Perhaps having been burned so many times before in similar situations helped...
Published 05/22/24
The Boston Celtics have defeated the Cleveland Cavaliers 113-98 in Game 5 of their 2024 Eastern Conference semifinals series to advance to the NBA's 2024 Eastern Conference finals. It came via a massive game from veteran Boston big man Al Horford, and it also saw perhaps the best postseason play from star Celtics forward Jayson Tatum as well. As an added bonus, the team will get a bit of rest while they wait to learn their opponent in the next round from the New York Knicks - Indiana Pacers...
Published 05/16/24
The Boston Celtics have a commanding 3-1 series lead vs. the Cleveland Cavaliers in their East semis second round series. But there were moments in the contest where old Celtics habits crept back in and put the game's outcome in doubt, with fans of the team predictably melting down on social media in response to those mistakes. Do we need to worry about more of the same should Boston advance? And why is this still happening on some nights? Shouldn't they be better on nights when key players...
Published 05/14/24
In Game 2 of their 2024 Eastern Conference semifinals series with the Boston Celtics, the Cleveland Cavaliers came out with a plan and stuck to it. The Celtics, on the other hand, came out with an all-too-familiar lackluster effort that cost them a potentially critical contest. Boston should have anticipated a hungry Cavs squad would be prepared to fight back after a flat Game 1 performance, yet played without focus or energy for much of the game. How will both teams react in Game 3 as the...
Published 05/10/24
The Boston Celtics finally know their opponent for the NBA's 2024 Eastern Conference semifinals series. With the Cleveland Cavaliers emerging victorious in their first round series vs. the Orlando Magic, Boston's next opponent is locked in. And with that knowledge, the Celtics and their fans can begin to get an idea of the potential contours of this series. How dangerous are the Cavs for the Celtics? What are their weaknesses and strengths? How do they match up with Boston, and what else do...
Published 05/06/24
The Boston Celtics got their revenge against the Miami Heat for sending them fishing in the 2023 Eastern Conference Finals, instead kicking off the Heat's postseason with a Game 5 win over Miami in their 2024 NBA Eastern Conference first round series. The 118-84 blowout was a fitting end for longtime Celtics broadcaster Mike Gorman's 43-year career, and now Boston waits for star center Kristaps Porzingis to heal up and for a winner to emerge from the Cleveland Cavaliers - Orlando Magic...
Published 05/02/24
The Boston Celtics won Game 4 of their 2024 NBA Eastern Conference first round series with the Miami Heat to take a commanding 3-1 lead at Kaseya Center on Monday night, but the win came at a cost. The Celtics lost star big man Kristaps Porzingis to what is being described as a calf strain, and could miss substantial time as a result. How does Porzingis' injury impact the rest of the series vs. the Heat? Assuming Boston advances (and we should), how do the team's rotations change in terms of...
Published 04/30/24
The Boston Celtics let their fans down with a mediocre effort against the Miami Heat in Game 2 of their first round series, the level of urgency reminiscent of a mid-December tilt of little consequence. Attacking the Celtics with a relentless assault from deep on one end, and denying the use of Kristaps Porzingis as a 'safety valve' on the other, Boston has given Miami life by not understanding the gravity of the moment yet again. But rather than dwell (too much) on the loss, the hosts of the...
Published 04/25/24
The Boston Celtics played like a finely-tuned luxury car in their 114-94 blowout of the Miami Heat on Sunday in Game 1, and it was thanks in part to the addition of star big man Kristaps Porzingis this past offseason. To take stock of that Game 1 win, what we expect to see in Game 2, and a quick chat about Porzingis' luxury car collection (all Mercedes-Benz) the hosts of the CLNS Media "Celtics Lab" podcast put together an extraordinary start to their 2024 postseason coverage. Do the Heat...
Published 04/23/24
The NBA is inching closer to a new, inevitable round of expansion, and based on what we have heard from league commissioner Adam Silver, it might not just be within the US and Canada. And while Mexico City might not be among the frontrunners, the growth of the league in popularity around the world will only continue to grow. What will NBA expansion look like this time, and in the future? How is it different for fans and international media to enjoy the NBA we have now? And what else might the...
Published 04/19/24
The Boston Celtics' regular season is over, and the team is gearing up for the 2024 NBA Playoffs while waiting to hear back on whether any members of the organization will take home some hardware for their league-best season. But it is not just Boston in the title hunt this postseason suiting up with letters on the front that read "Celtics". The team's Portland-based G League affiliate, the Maine Celtics, are also in the mix to hang a banner, with Maine poised to win their first-ever G League...
Published 04/14/24
The Boston Celtics own the best record in the NBA for the 2023-24 season and have an absurd 15-game lead over the next-closest team in the East, the Milwaukee Bucks. Records seem to be breaking on a regular basis, and we keep hearing about how this iteration of the Celtics are an all-time ball club. But do they have what it takes to win it all? And are these records and this history we keep hearing about Boston making truly comparable to other champion Celtics squads? Or are we getting the...
Published 04/09/24
The Boston Celtics have all but locked up the top spot in the league, as well as home court in the East heading into the 2024 NBA Playoffs. Everything seems to be aligning for Boston to make a deep postseason run fans hope ends in a title. At least, save one. It seems the path back to the finals might have just gotten considerably tougher for the Celtics with word that Philadelphia 76ers big man Joel Embiid is set to return to the court. The perennial MVP candidate will have to play his way...
Published 04/02/24
Fans of the Boston Celtics (and, truthfully, the entire league) can't watch their favorite team without a gambling segment, an ad about betting, or an opportunity to gamble. And when the game ends, more and more of the players playing it are jumping on their podcasts to talk about it. With the lines between multiple, entangled businesses that make up the NBA ecosphere blurring more with every passing day, what are the benefits -- and more importantly, the risks -- of these phenomenons? Is the...
Published 03/25/24
March Madness is officially here, and fans of the Boston Celtics tend to start paying attention to the college game around now if they have not been the whole time with their favorite NCAA squad. Potential Celtics draft prospects can be scouted by the casual college basketball fan and pros both, and old rivalries transcend NBA allegiances for a bit of extra sauce at the next level. Speaking of the stretch run, Boston is in the thick of it, with health and rest as important as seeding usually...
Published 03/19/24
The Boston Celtics are firmly within the thick of the NBA's 2024 stretch run as they try to wrap up loose ends on the court and nagging injuries while also getting into postseason form. That is not exactly the easiest of needles to thread, but they have a favorable schedule and the right personnel to pull it off, particularly given the lead they have over the rest of the East. But what exactly is that schedule ahead of them? And when can they rest players, and what concerns remain to be...
Published 03/12/24