When Jayson Tatum went down with a torn Achilles before the season even began, most of the NBA world quietly reset their expectations for the Boston Celtics. Losing an MVP-level superstar is supposed to collapse a team’s ceiling. Add in the departures of Jrue Holiday, Kristaps Porzingis, Al Horford, and Luke Kornet in the offseason, and the narrative was simple: this season wasn’t going to be about contending, it was going to be about surviving.

But someone forgot to tell Joe Mazzulla. And someone definitely forgot to tell Jaylen Brown.

Instead of stumbling toward mediocrity or positioning themselves for a soft rebuild, the Celtics are scrapping, defending, developing, and, quietly but unmistakably, winning.

They sit fifth in the Eastern Conference, and the standings paint an honest picture. Boston ranks fifth in average point differential, placing it statistically closer to the top tier than to the middle class of the East.

Even more impressive? That number comes after weathering early-season injuries and inconsistency.

They’ve now won three straight, picking up momentum with victories over Cleveland, New York, and Washington. And before that? They snapped Detroit’s 13-game winning streak, a result that felt symbolic.

The Celtics weren’t here to fold or fade. They were here to compete. Suddenly, the question isn’t whether Boston will tank.

It’s whether they’re actually contenders.

Jaylen Brown is rising, and so is the identity of this team

Brown’s evolution has been the defining storyline of Boston’s season. He’s not simply carrying the scoring load; he’s embracing the role of being a franchise cornerstone.

He’s not load-managing, he’s not conserving energy, and he’s certainly not treating this season like a placeholder while Tatum recovers. He’s out there every night, pushing the pace, guarding the best wing, attacking mismatches, and elevating his brand and his shoe, with consistency and availability.

Brown has always had the skill. What he’s showing now is command. He moves like a superstar, communicates like a leader, and competes like someone who knows his window is open now, not later.

Payton Pritchard has taken advantage of his starting role as well, providing scoring punch, tempo, and toughness, while others, from Jordan Walsh to role players fighting for rotation minutes, are competing as every possession matters.

This isn’t a locker room waiting on Tatum. This is a locker room building something for him to return to.

A weak east and a strong culture create a real opportunity

Context matters, and the Eastern Conference landscape looks unusually open. Despite a 13-9 record, Boston sits just 1.5 games from the fourth seed. Teams that were expected to dominate, like the Cavaliers, Raptors, Knicks, and Magic, have proven beatable.

Meanwhile, the so-called bottom feeders, the Wizards, Hornets, Jazz, Nets, and others openly leaning into development or tanking, aren’t competitive enough to pressure Boston from below.

In a conference where mediocrity is masquerading as parity, stability becomes a competitive advantage, and the Celtics have it.

Joe Mazzulla deserves credit for that. He said from day one this would not be a gap year, and the team has embodied that mentality. They are playing connected basketball, defending with buy-in, and showing enough structure to stay competitive even when execution wavers.

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More importantly, they look like they care.

There’s pride woven into this roster, the kind that has defined Celtics basketball across generations. It’s the same thread that stitched together Pierce’s rebuild, Garnett’s intensity, Smart’s grit, and Tatum’s ascent.

Boston refuses to tank because the culture refuses to allow it.

A Tatum return changes the ceiling, not the identity

Currently, the Celtics are intriguing. With Tatum, they become dangerous.

No timeline has been finalized, but whispers of a potential late-season return aren’t unrealistic. If that happens, Boston won’t be trying to rediscover chemistry; they’ll be layering a superstar onto an already functional identity.

That is the dream scenario every contending team pretends they don’t think about, but definitely does.

A top-five defense. A top-seven point differential. A leader in Jaylen Brown who has proven he can be a No. 1. A roster full of hungry role players fighting for relevance. And a superstar waiting in the wings.

For a team many thought would fold, Boston has positioned itself not just to compete, but to climb. Are they the favorites in the East? No. Not yet.

But contenders?

Absolutely, and anyone who dismissed them in October may soon have to revisit that take because the Celtics aren’t tanking.

They’re building.

And the rest of the East should probably pay attention.