Tatum told reporters, “I think we had a few bad losses at the last few weeks of the season because we were so eager to get back to the Finals last year” (h/t NBC Sports Boston). “We played six games in the preliminary round.

Maybe there were some things we took for granted. We’ve done a great job this year of wanting to improve without slacking off and honoring every game, every day.

This is not surprising to hear from JT in this particular perspective. This season, head coach Joe Mazzulla has made numerous speeches in which he has emphasized to his team that daily improvement is what matters most.

The way the ensemble plays gives us the impression that we have seen that.

The group team that the Celtics have this year operates differently from last. They genuinely focus on their shortcomings while gazing into the mirror.

Consider it.

How many times have we heard athletes lament the desire to improve only to continue making the same errors?

Not very much.

Yes, the two defeats suffered in Atlanta last week were appalling. However, it is quite uncommon to witness the Celtics perform poorly for a stretch of games.

As a matter of fact, bad play rarely lasts more than a quarter or two. Boston has been excellent at making changes when things don’t work out.

The previous season, players would repeatedly take the platform and act responsible, but they were still losing inexplicably.

My best example occurred in March 2023, when the Milwaukee Bucks and the Cs were in a close competition for home court advantage.

When they faced the 34-42 Washington Wizards on March 28, they had a great opportunity to catch up.

Malcolm Brogdon had informed the media two days earlier that Boston desired the first seed and recognized the value of home court in the postseason.

You won’t believe what transpired next.

The Celtics’ pursuit of the top spot was ended as Kristaps Porzingis and the lads completely destroyed them.

However, the Celtics were fortunate. The Bucks ultimately suffered a first-round loss to the Miami Heat, which left the Cs with the best remaining seed.

As it turned out, the 2023 Celtics had no use for home court.

Only five of their eleven games at TD Garden were victories. They only won three of their final eight games in Boston, which made their record after the first round much worse.

The Celtics not only broke their word, but they also demonstrated that it wouldn’t have mattered if they had taken the first seed.

The part where they were meant to work out the kinks was skipped. The team for this season is revved up and prepared to play.

Mazzulla has repeatedly stated that he intended to use the remaining games of the season as an opportunity to test things out before the postseason.

Whether it was visually appealing (the victory in New Orleans) or not (cough, cough, Atlanta), he has accomplished precisely that.

They may not be flawless, but at least they’re making the effort to come as close as they can.