Tom Westerholm

2 weeks ago | boston.com | Tom Westerholm

The Celtics’ season ended in brutal fashion on Friday, as the Knicks stormed into the Eastern Conference finals with a 119-81 victory. Here are the takeaways. The good times are over, at least for now. Last season, after the Celtics blew out the Mavericks en route to a title, we wrote about how important it was that Celtics fans appreciate the good years, which were happening in real-time. The point, obviously, was that as good as the Celtics’ situation seemed, nothing great lasts forever.

3 weeks ago | boston.com | Tom Westerholm

Jaylen Brown and the Celtics aren’t yet ready to bow out into the postseason, claiming a 127-102 victory in front of an emotional TD Garden crowd on Wednesday. Here are the takeaways. To stay alive, the Celtics needed a near-perfect game from Jaylen Brown, and they got one. “Near-perfect” for Brown doesn’t mean a huge scoring night, although he was excellent on that front – 26 points on 9-for-17 shooting, including three loud 3-pointers.

3 weeks ago | boston.com | Tom Westerholm

The Celtics lost to the Knicks 121-113, and chances are you, the reader, don’t really care very much about the final score or the fact that the Celtics are on the verge of bowing out of their title defense in the Eastern Conference semifinals, because with 2:58 left in the fourth quarter, Jayson Tatum crumpled to the floor after a non-contact injury that looked very much like the worst thing to happen to the Celtics franchise in decades.

3 weeks ago | boston.com | Conor Roche |Tom Westerholm

The Celtics built a big lead and – finally – kept it on Saturday, blowing out the Knicks 115-93, trimming their series deficit to 2-1. Here are the takeaways. The Celtics found their stroke (and the game looked way more normal). Given that the Celtics have led by 20 in each of the first three games of this series, it’s staggering that they trail 2-1 after Saturday’s win, but that’s neither here nor there.

4 weeks ago | boston.com | Tom Westerholm

The Celtics blew a 20-point second-half lead for the second consecutive game against the Knicks on Wednesday, falling 91-90 and dropping both home games to dig a 2-0 series hole. Here are the takeaways. Where do we even start? Let’s begin with Jayson Tatum, who had another abysmal game. For all of the plaudits he received (and richly deserved) during the Magic series, he has been nearly invisible against the Knicks – a team who should be eminently exploitable for a player with Tatum’s skillset.