As Payton Pritchard spoke to reporters following Boston's Jan. 9 win against the Toronto Raptors -- the Celtics' 14th win in 18 games -- a simple question was lobbed his way inside TD Garden's home locker room.
Are you surprised at the way this season has played out?
A smirk crossed the point guard's face before the question was even finished, giving way to a rapid response.
"I'm not surprised at all," he said.
To say Pritchard and Boston are in the minority is an understatement.
The Celtics, who host the Milwaukee Bucks on Sunday (3:30 p.m. ET, ABC) are 30-18 and tied for second place in the Eastern Conference. And more than halfway through the 2025-26 season, Boston ranks second in offensive and net rating and sits 12th in defensive rating.
While the rankings are in line with recent Boston squads -- the Celtics have finished inside the top 10 in all three categories in four consecutive seasons -- those versions included players such as Jayson Tatum, Al Horford, Kristaps Porzingis, Jrue Holiday and Luke Kornet, to name a few. Four of those players left Boston over the summer, while Tatum remains sidelined as he recovers from a torn Achilles suffered during the playoffs.
With so much roster turnover, the potential of a gap year became a top summer storyline in Boston. Instead, the Celtics are on pace to win at least 50 games for the fifth straight season and can still make a run at the Detroit Pistons for the conference's top seed.
"The fact they're missing Tatum and not missing a beat," a Western Conference executive said, "is unbelievable."
Here is a look at how the surprising Celtics have defied expectations, why they remain a threat in the wide-open East and why this roster could receive a massive boost in the playoffs.
Boston has embraced its underdog role
After the Celtics routed the Atlanta Hawks on Jan. 17 -- Boston's 52 points in the second quarter outscored Atlanta's 51 at the half, coach Joe Mazzulla was asked about improvements made since training camp and the franchise's first 0-3 start since 2013.
"It's just everything," Mazzulla said. "It's just the process of what goes into winning, defending at a high level, understanding the details, rebounding, offensive execution, time and score, situational basketball, game plan, execution. We just have to make the decision every day to get better."
Mazzulla has become a coach-speak master through more than three seasons on Boston's sidelines, but his mantra remains the basis of everything driving the Celtics this season. There might not be a better coach in the league for this situation than Mazzulla, who thrives on the work and has a roster that embraces his mindset.
Derrick White is a former Division II player who forged himself into a first-round pick whose game has taken another leap since coming to Boston in 2022.
Pritchard was once ready to leave the franchise over a lack of playing time but emerged as a crucial player on the 2024 title team. With Holiday now part of the Portland Trail Blazers, the 28-year-old Pritchard has thrived as the Celtics' starting point guard.
And Jaylen Brown, thrust into the No. 1 scoring option, is having his best season yet.
In light of Tatum's injury and the veteran talent lost from the roster, it would have been easy and understandable for the franchise to buy into the idea of a lost season. Boston has done anything but, surging into the conference's top tier after finding its footing throughout an 8-8 opening month.
"I would say we got here faster than I thought we would. I thought we would just kind of take little baby steps along the way," Brown said on Jan. 9. "Sometimes early success can be a detriment. ... Sometimes it's bad when you get too much praise and notoriety from a team standpoint, because now you get comfortable.
"I want us to keep our edge. I want to keep my edge, too."
Brown's rise into the MVP discussion
A major preseason question was how Brown would manage the offensive burden with not only Tatum sidelined but also with Holiday, Porzingis and Horford playing elsewhere.
Brown has provided an emphatic answer. The 29-year-old guard is averaging career highs in most categories -- most notably his 29.4 points, fourth in the league. And Brown has maintained his efficiency despite taking the second-most shots in the league behind Philadelphia 76ers All-Star guard Tyrese Maxey.
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It's part of the reason Brown's fifth All-Star appearance results in his first starting nod. "He sacrificed a lot with a really good team," Pritchard said. "You [were] not going to be able to take as many shots or be as aggressive sometimes, because you're playing with a lot of star power."
Brown has been surrounded by plenty of talent in his nine-plus seasons, from scoring guards Isaiah Thomas and Kyrie Irving to the other standouts of Boston's title-winning core in Tatum, Horford, Porzingis and Holiday.
For Brown's part, he admitted he's still getting used to leading opposing teams' scouting reports.
"Even though I've been in the league for 10 years, I think people forget that I'm adjusting on the fly as well," he said. "Having more responsibility has called for me to step up and make more plays. ...
"Teams are not going to just let me do what I want every single night. I'm OK with that; I just have to be better at reading the game and trust my teammates."
Youth playing a huge role
While seeing "Boston 130, Brooklyn 126 (Final/2OT)" scroll across ESPN's Bottom Line on the night of Jan. 23 might have come as a surprise, given the Celtics needed two extra frames to edge a team fighting for lottery positioning, it was how this new-look squad won that would have been truly unexpected before this season.
Down five points with 7.9 seconds remaining in the first overtime, it appeared the Celtics were headed for a desultory loss. Instead, a pair of rookies save them.
First, it was two-way center Amari Williams, who caught a full-court pass and tossed it to Pritchard for a quick 3-pointer. Then, after Nets rookie Nolan Traore split a pair of free throws, forward Hugo Gonzalez hit a 3 at the horn to force double overtime. Brown and Pritchard, who scored or assisted on nine of the Celtics 12 points in the final frame, took over from there.
"We definitely have a younger team," Pritchard said after the game. "[On Celtics] teams in the past, rookies probably really never touched the floor, just because we've had a veteran team and very proven guys. ...
"Every night somebody new can step up and win the game for you."
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This season, 11 Celtics have played in at least 30 games and are averaging double-digit minutes, a testament to Mazzulla's willingness to mix and match across the roster.
Neemias Queta has started 43 games and has blossomed into a reliable center (10.0 points, 8 rebounds, 1.3 blocks per game), helping to fill the void left by the departures of bigs Porzingis, Horford and Kornet. Gonzalez, the 28th pick in the 2025 draft, has partnered with 2023 second-round pick Jordan Walsh to provide energy and effort on the wings, clearing the way for White, Brown and Pritchard to shoulder the scoring load.
"They're doing a great job with player development, doing a great job on the margins," the West executive said of Boston's revamped supporting cast. "Sure, there's luck involved, but they're a really good team. They're playing with house money. I love watching them."
Overall uncertainty across the conference
The New York Knicks and Cleveland Cavaliers were seen as co-favorites to emerge from the conference, largely because Tatum and Indiana Pacers guard Tyrese Haliburton's Achilles tears had removed the East's past two finalists from the preseason conversation.
Now, more than halfway through the season, the conference is as wide open as ever.
The Pistons have practically led the East all season, but their current group has never won a playoff series. The 76ers have shown flashes of their ceiling, but ongoing health questions for Joel Embiid and Paul George can't be ignored.
The Orlando Magic and Hawks, two teams with exciting young cores ready to take a step forward, are sitting in the play-in mix. And preseason favorites New York and Cleveland have each undergone stretches of dysfunction.
That leaves the Celtics, the conference's only contending team with a championship pedigree.
Tatum's potential return could swing the East
From the moment Tatum suffered an Achilles tear in New York during Game 4 of the conference semifinals in May -- he underwent surgery within hours, a major component of a speedy recovery -- there has been consistent chatter that Boston's All-NBA forward could return at some point during the 2025-26 season. (Though Tatum told ESPN's Ramona Shelburne on Wednesday that he has yet to make a decision and "wants to get it right the first time, so it's just a lot to think about.")
But any eventual return this season was expected to be for a team battling to stay in the play-in picture, not one primed for home-court advantage through at least one round of the playoffs. That has created a situation where Tatum's return could potentially lift the franchise back to the top of the conference.
However, expecting the 27 points per game scorer who made four consecutive first-team All-NBA appearances before his injury would be wildly unfair. But even 75% of Tatum's peak would be a massive boost, particularly to a Celtics frontcourt that is sorely missing his 6-foot-10 presence as a shooter and rebounder.
For now, Boston and its current No. 1 scoring option will continue defying the preseason doubters.
"I think we play better when our back is against the wall," Brown said. "I'm looking for any and everything to keep that fuel."
