Doc Rivers says the Celtics have the championship unlocked. Derrick White and Al Horford agree

BOSTON – Jrue Holiday, who rarely listens to the referees, couldn't believe the shot clock violation against the Boston Celtics. When he and Joe Mazzulla animatedly informed the refereeing team that Holiday's shot actually hit the rim, referee Tony Brothers on the Boston bench called a technical foul. Instead of getting an extra possession because Holiday secured his own offensive rebound, the Celtics lost the ball and watched as the Bucks used their technical free throw to take a one-point lead.

A weaker team might have disbanded. The Celtics responded immediately with an 18-2 run.

“Just chaos,” Mazzulla said after the Celtics moved to 4-0 and cruised to a 119-108 win. “Yes. It's perfect. It's exactly what we needed.”

Some might say the Celtics showed championship mettle in this crucial period. Although it would be impossible to prove exactly how a title will impact a team in future seasons, Doc Rivers believes that by winning the Larry O'Brien Trophy, the Celtics have unlocked a better version of themselves. Rivers called them “a proven basketball team now” and said their transformation was evident on the court. He believes that after the first ring of the current core, they are now playing “without obstacles.”

“Winning this title took her to a new level,” Rivers said. “And you can feel it when they play.”

Did capturing the championship actually give the Celtics a boost? Al Horford and Derrick White said they agreed with Rivers' claim.

“Absolutely,” Horford said The athlete. “The win definitely took our confidence to a new level. I feel like we still approach things the same way. We work hard, we strive, but I just think the confidence – I see it in the approach. We understand that we have already achieved the things we fought for. And now it doesn’t matter what situation you are in, you are still optimistic as a team.”

White reiterated: “I think we were pretty confident before, but I think when you achieve something like that, with basically the same group, just that bond, that connection that we have – then I think the other teams are kind of looking for it.” . We basically just did it. We have this connection, we have this bond that we have a lot of trust in each other when things go well or bad.”

It's not like the Celtics had many holes last season. They posted one of the best net marks ever in a regular season at 64-18 and then finished the season with a 16-3 run to the playoffs. Performance at critical times, which had occasionally been a major problem for them in the past, became one of their many strengths. They coped so well with adversity that they were able to escape it almost entirely. They were consistent enough to avoid a three-game losing streak throughout the season. They have not trailed in any of their four playoff series. Even the absence of Kristaps Porziņģis for much of the postseason couldn't dampen their invincibility.

The injured Porziņģis has yet to play this season, but the Celtics have decimated their opponents from behind the 3-point arc. Through four games, they have made 86 3-pointers, compared to 40 for their opponents. Boston's offensive rating so far (126.1) is nearly four points per 100 possessions better than last season. And last season, the Celtics set a new record for offensive efficiency. In this era of scoring, no other team could keep up with them. With almost their entire roster back, the Celtics seem to know exactly who they are and what they want to do.

“I just think you do the right reading,” White said. “Trust each other. Someone started it, we'll find him. Everyone is involved, so it's a fun team to play for, a fun team to compete with every night. And we're just hungry to keep getting better and learning. I think that’s the cool part.”

Boston hasn't always played well this young season, but whenever it's needed it has acted with precision. After the Celtics went from bad to worse about halfway through Saturday's game, blowing a 23-point lead against the Pistons, they were still in a position to play under duress once crucial time reached. Trailing by six points with four minutes left, Holiday set up the score with back-to-back three-pointers on two beautiful ball-moving sequences. Detroit, which had consistently scored in a big comeback, had no success when the Celtics took action late. When the winning time came, Mazzula's team found another gear.

Horford said he's seen a long list of teams act with extra poise after winning a championship. In one example, he said the Nuggets did things differently after capturing the 2023 title. In two close losses to Denver last season, Horford said he noticed the team's composure in the most important moments of those games.

“Last year they came here, we made runs, they made runs and they stayed cool,” Horford said. “When it was time for them to step on the gas and get a stop-or-go result or just do something, they had that ability.”

White said the Nuggets were never shaken. He feels a similar stability now with the Celtics.

“You kind of see that with other champions in the league,” White said. “When things are going well, when things are going bad things just stay consistent. They saw every result, played in every type of game and just had that belief and consistency. Nothing surprises her. And I think it's the same for us. We've seen literally every type of game. 20 up. 20 down. Hit threes, don't hit threes. We have a lot of different ways to win.”

In what Mazzulla described as chaos, the Celtics kept their cool against Milwaukee. After a technical free throw from Damian Lillard, Jayson Tatum forced a pass from Bobby Portis to the post. Tatum missed Boston's next shot, but Payton Pritchard fought to pass the offensive rebound to Xavier Tillman, and White took advantage of the green light with a three-pointer seconds later.

In the ensuing run, Jordan Walsh piled up the force, White and Pritchard took turns throwing long jump shots, and Jaylen Brown controlled the early part of the fourth quarter. Even one of Boston's mistakes during overtime, a Tatum foul while in the bonus game in the third quarter, proved to be a positive as it gave the Celtics one final possession of the period. Pritchard took advantage with a typical final goal, much to the chagrin of Rivers.

PAYTON PRITCHARD DOES IT AGAIN 😱 pic.twitter.com/FgIO7vCZ67

– NBA TV (@NBATV) October 29, 2024

Rivers said he looked so pained not only because Pritchard hit the shot, but also because the Bucks failed to properly defend a situation they had previously planned for.

“We had to move him to the middle and we talked about it this morning,” Rivers said. “He always tries to break away at the end of the quarter. We went through that. So it wasn't that Pritchard reaction. It was more my reaction that we had that covered and we were there and let him go right. When it really started, I didn't know it was going to go in. I just didn’t think good things would happen, and they didn’t.”

Milwaukee coach Doc Rivers speaks with Damian Lillard during Monday's game. “Winning that title took them to a new level,” the former Celtics coach said. “And you can feel it when they play.” (Paul Rutherford / Imagn Images)

The Celtics could have melted down. Instead, they needed less than five minutes of play to turn a one-point deficit into a 97-82 lead.

Even before being on the wrong end, Rivers explained why he believes the championship has changed the Celtics.

“They have complete confidence in the pass,” Rivers said. “They trust each other. They play together. And there's no one in the league right now who can do it better than them. And they show it every night.”

(Top photo of Jrue Holiday after hitting a 3-pointer against the Bucks: Matt Stone / MediaNews Group / Boston Herald via Getty Images)