After years of falling short, the Boston Celtics finally broke through and made the NBA Finals in the 2021-22 season. While they would go on to lose to the Golden State Warriors in six games, it signaled improvement, and they got to that point by way of their top-notch defense.
With the success, the bar was raised. While the ultimate goal was always to win a championship, anything short of that would now be defined as a failure rather than a sign of progress.
Unfortunately, that’s exactly what happened. The Celtics were bounced in the Eastern Conference finals by the Miami Heat.