Celtics set to embrace the growing pains that will come this season

Boston Celtics

“I’m looking forward to when we get to that point where we catch our wind, what that could possibly be.”

By Conor Ryan

October 23, 2025 | 7:40 AM

4 minutes to read

The decibel level remained as loud as ever amid the sea of green that converged  on Causeway Street Wednesday night.  

Some things seemingly never change, especially when it comes to the standards, excitement, and expectations set at the start of a new Celtics season during this fruitful chapter of the franchise.  

But even if the enthusiasm emanating from TD Garden remained unchanged ahead of tip-off, the same can’t be said for the personnel who took to the parquet floor in Boston’s season opener.  

A year ago, Boston raised its 18th championship banner to the rafters and commenced its title defense with most of the same group that carved a warpath through the rest of the NBA in 2023-24.

This fall, Joe Mazzulla’s stacked squad has been sapped away by a 1-2 punch of injuries and cap-related restrictions.

Two of Boston’s starters last season in Jrue Holiday and Kristaps Porzingis are now playing for the Trail Blazers and Hawks, respectively. 

A once-stout bench has been shredded with both Al Horford and Luke Kornet now playing in the Western Conference.

And Boston’s franchise fixture in Jayson Tatum — while present at TD Garden on Wednesday — spent the night stapled to the bench. As he works his way back from a ruptured Achilles, Tatum’s eventual return to the court remains as murky as Boston’s long-term title hopes beyond this bridge season. 

For Mazzulla and what remains of a former championship-caliber roster, a painful offseason hasn’t given way to despair. 

And as evidenced by Wednesday’s opening bout with the 76ers, a roster anchored by the likes of Jaylen Brown, Derrick White, and Payton Pritchard can still be a tough out in a weaker Eastern Conference.

But as the Celtics made their way off the court after a 117-116 loss to Philly — a setback spurred by the Sixers erasing a 13-point deficit in the fourth quarter — one sentiment was reinforced.

The 2025-26 season will be one of adjustments, growing pains, and potentially a whole lot of silver linings for a team in transition. 

“Definitely a winnable game for us,” Brown said postgame. “We had some opportunities. It’s a learning experience. It’s going to be a learning experience from Day One. We have a bunch of new guys. We’re playing a new style. I thought we played hard. I thought we played a winnable game but it was some crucial errors that cost us.”

As the Celtics await Tatum’s return (be it in the spring or fall 2026) the onus on Mazzulla and his staff this season is giving the club’s returning starters some added run as the team’s go-to options — while also identifying which ancillary players could be primed for a greater role moving forward.

There were plenty of positives to draw from. Brown and White combined for 50 points, while starting center Neemias Queta had 17 points and eight rebounds over 25 minutes. 

Anfernee Simons added 13 points off the bench, while Xavier Tillman provided seven rebounds, two steals, and a block over 16 minutes. It’s to be expected for DNPs like Baylor Scheierman, Jordan Walsh, and Hugo Gonzalez to cut their teeth as the season progresses. 

But the intrigue that comes with this overhauled roster was undercut by a final score struck by both new shortcomings and familiar flaws.

Boston’s propensity for firing off salvos from 3-point range backfired on Wednesday, with the Celtics sinking just 11-of-43 attempts from beyond the arc.

A worrying trend of the Celtics letting go of the rope in the fourth quarter doomed them last spring in the playoffs — and it carried over on Wednesday as the Sixers clawed back over the final minutes of regulation. 

But this time around, the Celtics are also operating with a much smaller margin for error given the state of their team.

In crunch time, Boston can no longer rely on Tatum (at least for now) to deliver a knockout punch with a step-back jumper or a timely snag on the boards. Holiday won’t be available to snuff out a rally with a momentum-sapping steal, while Porzingis’ absence as a floor-spacing threat was evident on Wednesday.

The Celtics no longer have the means to routinely carve up the competition, night in and night out. 

Setbacks like Wednesday will likely become more commonplace. 

But as Brown noted, that doesn’t mean that this current iteration of the Celtics doesn’t have room to grow. 

It’s an undertaking that Brown believes will pay off in the long run — even with all of the struggles that come with such a task. 

“We got a new group that’s still figuring things out,” Brown said. “Some of these other teams have played together for a little bit more, so it’s going to be some ups and downs. But I’m looking forward to just learning every day with the group. And I’m looking forward to when we get to that point where we catch our wind, what that could possibly be.”

 

Conor Ryan is a staff writer covering the Bruins, Celtics, Patriots, and Red Sox for Boston.com, a role he has held since 2023.