Pressure usually feels obvious this time of year. You know who it’s on, you know what’s at stake, and you know exactly who’s going to hear about it if things go sideways.
This Celtics team is a little different. The expectations are obviously real and earned, but they’re not overwhelming. The core has already proven it can win, the supporting cast has spent the year exceeding assumptions, and the entire season has carried a “found money” feel to it. Which makes the pressure question harder to pin
down than usual.
We asked the CelticsBlog staff where it actually sits heading into the postseason, and whether it’s even there at all.
Which player is under the most pressure for the Celtics this postseason?
Jeff Clark: Frankly, I don’t see any Celtics players under pressure. Sure, there’s the pressure of the playoffs. There’s the pressure of not wanting to waste a year of Tatum and Brown’s primes. But this whole season has been found money. They have the veteran crew that’s been through the battles and won the whole thing. Then they have the young crew that is too young to know that they aren’t supposed to be this good. And they have a maniac coach that has them all locked in and on the same page. That’s a great combo.
Bill Sy: In a gap year that saw the front office get under the luxury tax, I don’t think there’s much pressure on anybody. Joe Mazzulla is the frontrunner for Coach of the Year (despite renouncing the honor), Tatum is less than a year from his Achilles tear, Brown has proven himself as an MVP candidate, and every role player has played above expectations. If there’s anybody that has anything to prove, it might be Nikola Vucevic.
You have to imagine that when Brad Stevens traded for him, the deal came with the prospect that he could re-sign with Boston in the summer. He showed signs of fitting in before and after he fractured his finger, but a playoff run will ultimately be the proving ground.
Rich Jensen: I don’t think anyone’s under a great deal of pressure. The C’s have so far exceeded expectations that they’ve been playing with house money since December or so. I think Tatum might be putting himself under pressure to rise to the level of performance that he thinks the rest of the team deserves, but I certainly wouldn’t put any external pressure on him. Maybe the rest of the media landscape and segments of the fanbase have ratcheted their expectations of Tatum and the team to unrealistic levels, but I’m not going to be on that bandwagon.
Look. Being a Celtics fan is like winning the lottery at this point. I’m not going to go around thinking that I’m entitled to more than what we ultimately get from the team.
Ian Inangelo: The person under the most pressure right now is probably Jaylen Brown. Just due to the fact he has been the lead option for most of the season and has put up MVP level performances so far. He is going to be seen as the guy who is going to lead the Celtics to another championship.
Mark Aboyoun: Nikola Vučević. Similar to why he may be a reason Boston won’t win the championship, since he’s returned from his thumb injury, he hasn’t looked great. When he was traded to Boston, he had to learn the team’s defensive scheme and, at times, struggled. Then he got injured early in his Celtics career, and with that, Garza was able to get back into the mix — and he’s done well, as he has all season. In the playoffs, the rotation gets shorter, and Mazzulla will have to figure out what’s best for the team.
Nirav Barman: JB and Derrick may be tied for being under the most pressure, but for different reasons. While the MVP is a regular season award, players are still judged on their ability to retain that value and production come playoff time. Jaylen has proved himself in the playoffs plenty of times before, but this year he will be under even more scrutiny. As for Derrick, he’s done just about everything this year, except for score the ball efficiently. If White’s shot isn’t falling, the Celtics will be in an incredibly tough spot, and a whole year of poor shooting will be a bad look for Derrick.
Mike Dynon: No one is truly under pressure because the Celtics were never expected to be where they are. Boston is playing this postseason with the proverbial house money. If forced to pick someone, let’s go with Sam Hauser. After alternating hot and cold all season, he finished with a sizzling April (52.6%) – yet he still ended the season at only 39.3%, the first time he’s been below 40%. Hauser also dropped in the league three-point percentage standings; he ranked 40th this season after placing 20th last year and 11th in 2024.
Hauser’s production is a key indicator for Boston. He appeared in 54 wins this season, making 42.4% of his shots from distance. Conversely, he converted only 30.9% in 24 appearances where the Celtics lost. Boston’s path will be much easier if Sam gets into Haus-Fire mode for the next two months.
Ryan Paice: Derrick White. Overall, I don’t think his position in Boston is under threat regardless of how he ultimately plays. But the spotlight is going to turn to him early and often. Playoff defenses tighten the screws and focus in on eliminating strengths, while taking chances on testing perceived weaknesses.
One of those perceived weaknesses may be White’s shot, as he has struggled to hit at a solid clip all season, so I expect the defense may sell out on the Jays and let White take a few shots. If he can recover his shot from the past couple seasons, the Celtics should walk into the Finals. If he can’t, it could be tough to watch as opponents game plan against him.
I, for one, can’t stand the thought of the inevitable calls for his head from some of the sillier talking heads in the media landscape if White can’t hit his shots on a consistent basis.
Gio Rivera: Collectively, the frontcourt is under the most pressure. Sure, there will be plenty of talk about Tatum’s return and Brown’s ability to carry his MVP-caliber play into the postseason, but that’s nothing new. They’ve dealt with those expectations for years, and as champions who led the 2024 title run, the only pressure that could reach them is the kind they place on themselves.
Neemias Queta and Nikola Vučević will need to hold the fort. Last postseason, Queta appeared in just four games, averaging 3.3 minutes. That’s no longer his reality. He’s no longer stuck in the shadows of Kristaps Porziņģis, Al Horford, and Luke Kornet. He’s now regarded as a legitimate starting center, and he earned that.
Even when veteran champion Chris Boucher was in the mix, Queta earned his role and did everything to keep it. When Vučević arrived, he still held firm, reinforcing that the job was rightfully his. His averaged career highs in points (10.2), rebounds (8.4), and blocks (1.3), along with the best field-goal percentage among Eastern Conference centers (65.3) and the third-best net rating (13.2) among centers, trailing only Victor Wembanyama and Chet Holmgren. That doesn’t just earn him locker room endorsement for the Most Improved Player award — it raises the bar for what’s expected this postseason.
Vučević, too, is in a similar spot. After missing 14 games with a fractured right finger, he struggled to regain form, averaging 7.4 points and five rebounds while shooting 31 percent from three over the final four games of the regular season. As the trade deadline return for Simons — and a player the organization has eyed for years — Boston will need him to bounce back quickly, ideally as early as the first round.
Grant Burfeind: It has to be the best player on the team this season, Jaylen Brown. He’s done the incredibly hard job over the last few years, which is get better every single season, and at a certain point, that almost raises the stakes instead of lowering them. He’s proved he belongs, now it’s about proving that this version of you is the new baseline.
Despite this amazing season, it still feels like he’s one shaky playoff run away from all the old conversations creeping back in. The forced drives, the loose handle, the possessions that stall out into isolation — we’ve seen it before, even if it feels like he’s moved past it. If he plays at the level he’s reached this season, it raises the ceiling of the entire team and could be the difference in bringing home Banner 19. If he slips back into some of those habits, he’s going to wear a lot of that outcome. That’s pressure in its simplest form.
