Celtics prepare for title defense in the face of true challengers: ‘We have to hunt again’

Everyone tells you how hard it is to win a championship, but what happens after you win — when the champagne stops flowing and the invincibility fades?

You find yourself playing 82 playoff games, having to muster a higher intensity than most good teams, or deciding when to use this reservoir of energy that isn’t an unlimited supply.

The standings show the Boston Celtics are one loss away from their total of 18 from last year, when they romped through the entire season and postseason, barely being touched or challenged on the way to claiming banner No. 18.

Their 17th loss this season came in a haze of Detroit aggression, Motown dancing and shimmying as the upstart Pistons won their eighth straight game, putting the NBA on notice with an impressive 117-97 win over the Celtics last Wednesday night at Little Caesars Arena. It was arguably the franchise’s biggest regular-season home game since the 2007-08 season, when they took on the newly formed Paul Pierce-Kevin Garnett-Ray Allen Celtics at the Palace of Auburn Hills in a preview of the Eastern Conference finals.

Last Wednesday, the Celtics weren’t ready for the emotional onslaught the Pistons were bringing. Detroit’s youth and improvement were evident from the opening layup lines, the players sensing an opportunity for more skins on the wall.

It isn’t the case for every game, but there is extra motivation for every team opening its doors to the visiting Celtics or walking into Boston’s TD Garden this season. Whether the Celtics realize it or not, they’re playing two games in one, almost every night. The mental and physical fatigue is just as daunting as the actual competition.

There’s a reason — not the biggest one, but a factor — the NBA hasn’t had a repeat champion since the Stephen Curry-Kevin Durant Golden State Warriors in 2017 and 2018. It’s the longest such stretch for the NBA since the late-1970s, right before the Magic Johnson-Larry Bird decade of dominance began.

“We have to hunt again. We want to win another championship, and we have to be hunting again,” Kristaps Porziņģis said last week in Detroit. “But you know, the season is long.”

Porziņģis was arguably the last piece to the Celtics’ championship puzzle last season, along with Jrue Holiday. His health has been an issue throughout his career, but when he’s right, the versatility he provides seemingly makes them unbeatable.

Last year, the Celtics were 43-14 in the 57 games he played. This year, the Celtics are 20-12, with the majority of his inactivity coming at the start of the season as he recovered from an ankle injury he suffered in last June’s NBA Finals.

“We’re working towards something, we want to peak at the right moment,” said Porziņģis, who was measured and calm after the team’s blowout loss in Detroit. “We don’t want to overreact to a loss, but with every loss we can learn something and take something from it. Tonight is no different.”

All-Star Jaylen Brown was dinged up from the night before, and the Celtics sat him. It was one of those nights where he was needed. Jayson Tatum had pesky swingman Ausar Thompson in his chest all night, and not that Tatum was truly careless (he had four turnovers), but there weren’t any other premier shot-creators on the floor to alleviate pressure.

Tatum’s numbers are almost identical to last season’s, with shooting percentages slightly down but everything else holding form. Brown has improved his playmaking, while his shooting has taken a slight dip from 3.

As long as those two are upright, though, the Celtics have a strong chance.

“I think we have great continuity,” Celtics coach Joe Mazzulla said. “I think that’s what you trust throughout the season. (Brown), he puts his body on the line regardless and sometimes you gotta save guys from themselves. And that’s what was best for everyone and best for the team. And you trust the continuity over the course of the season.”

It was one of those nights, at the end of a road-road back-to-back with games against title contenders Cleveland and Denver looming ahead at home. Cleveland overcame a huge deficit to shock the Celtics on national TV, in a boon for its title hopes, while the Celtics took care of business against the Nuggets two nights later — again, on national television.

“It’s a little bit of (everything). You’re playing against teams trying to win a title,” Tatum said last week. “Everything counts. So you never get too high or too low.”

The Cavaliers game means a lot more in some eyes because they’re likely on a collision course to meet in the Eastern Conference finals, in a rematch of last year’s second-round series, which the Celtics won easily.

But the Cavaliers are true challengers, and the season series ended with both teams winning two games each. In today’s economy of parity, though, there are a lot more contenders this time of year than usual.

Mazzulla, whose unique quirks belie how good of a coach he’s been for this team, seems to look at the changing lineups and hostile energy in arenas as opportunities as opposed to impediments.

“It’s not a toll as much as it is a responsibility we talk about,” Mazzulla said. “It’s a compliment, that we have to execute and deliver.”

The Milwaukee Bucks are still lurking, having found a rhythm after the trade deadline. The New York Knicks are potentially explosive, but the Celtics have handled them in their three meetings this year.

And if they should get back to the Finals, the Western Conference is full of hopefuls, from the conference-leading Thunder to the surging Lakers — who they play in another marquee game Saturday night — to the aforementioned Nuggets and even the Golden State Warriors, who’ve made a run since trading for Celtics nemesis Jimmy Butler.

Since drafting Tatum and Brown, they’ve always been in the championship conversation, making the conference finals in four of the past five years. But it’s a little different being the champions.

“You gotta be in it,” Tatum said. “Over recent years, we’ve gotten everybody’s really good shot. Now, on a nightly basis we get everybody’s best shot. We’re like the standard. You win the championship and that’s with any champion in history. The next year, they are the standard and guys are trying to get what they have. So our responsibility comes with that.”

They’ve worn the crown well, even with the lulls. One thing that separates them from champs of recent vintage is continuity, both in style and in personnel. The Nuggets lost critical pieces in Bruce Brown and veteran Jeff Green after winning the 2023 title. The 2022-23 Warriors had chemistry issues from training camp on.

The 2021-22 Milwaukee Bucks probably had the best chance to repeat on paper, but health quelled their bid, as it would anyone with the margins so thin in today’s game.

The Celtics’ top eight scorers returned this season, and Payton Pritchard has taken on a bigger role as a top candidate for the Sixth Man of the Year award — he dropped a career-high 43 against Portland, hitting 10 3-pointers, while Derrick White added 41. Pritchard was once a hard-playing, low-ceiling player, now he’s a critical element to their repeat hopes.

Last year the Celtics were experienced enough, now you wonder if this year they’re old in some spots. Holiday will be 35 by the time the Finals roll around and has been dealing with nagging injuries, most recently a nerve issue in his right shoulder. Porziņģis always has injury concerns and Al Horford is nearing 39 years old.

But … they’re still a top five team on both ends, third in offensive efficiency and fifth on defense. That is usually a prerequisite for contention, regardless of record. And as they have under Mazzulla, the Celtics launch more 3s than anyone, fewer 2s than anyone — and that’s probably what will determine their fortunes.

Last year, the Celtics beat everyone with the math. This year, they’ll have to be more cunning to beat a new slew of challengers.