ESPN looks at the " toughness " of this Celtics team.
from espn.com:
This season, Boston was 14 games better than the second-best team in the Eastern Conference (New York Knicks), and seven games better than the Denver Nuggets and the Oklahoma City Thunder, the two 57-game winners in the West. It defeated opponents by 11.3 points per game -- a differential reserved for dynasties (the 2016-17 Golden State Warriors and 1995-96 Chicago Bulls also won with this margin) and it was the best point differential in Celtics history.
Three times this season -- Nov. 1 against the Indiana Pacers (155-104), Feb. 14 versus the Brooklyn Nets (136-86) and March 3 against Golden State (140-88) -- the Celtics won by at least 50 points.
Through two playoff rounds, Boston has been ruthless, destroying both the Miami Heat and Cleveland Cavaliers in five games, by an average margin of victory of 22 and 15 points, respectively, and now Indiana, a team Boston was 17 games better than and beat three-of-four times, stands between it and its second Finals appearance in three years.
Yet, for an obvious juggernaut that was picked to win the NBA title since before Thanksgiving, nobody seems to be particularly happy in Boston. The star, Jayson Tatum, dismisses criticism of the Celtics as proof of an impatient society only happy when it's mad. Whether the subject is Boston's 3-point volume, its toughness or his time-out usage. Joe Mazzulla, the Celtics' overly defensive second-year head coach, wears the annoyed countenance of a man offended that he dared be asked any questions at all.
Whether Tatum and Mazzulla are purposely gaslighting their fan base by acting surprised by the anxiety, or if they are throwing up the protective shield teams do this time of year, these Celtics are eight victories from their 18th championship surrounded by angst that is well deserved, and the reason is as obvious as the Citgo sign: No championship-level Celtics team in the 78-year history of the franchise has ever taken so long to win a title.
Full story:
Will the Tatum/Brown-era Celtics finally prove their toughness?