Honestly, I can't say I figured I'd be writing an end of the season Celtics article now not only because I feel like we were the better team than Cleveland, but the fact we were able to get this far after what transpired this season. I was figuring this article would be written much earlier in the playoffs or even at the end of the regular season. Because if you had told me after Hayward went down we'd make it to game 7 of the Eastern Conference Finals, I'd have thought you were crazy. If you had told me after Kyrie was ruled out for the rest of the year we'd make it here, I'd also still think you were crazy. But wow what a ride this team put us on. If this is not your favorite Celtics team since the '08 team, then I don't know what to tell you. Coming into this season with the big 3 of Kyrie, Hayward, and Horford the big question was how does your supporting cast fit into this? Well if this is what the supporting cast can give us, then wow next year is going to be fun. Now for this article, I could break down what went wrong during the Cavs series but I'll spare you all from that since this is a feel-good article. If you really want to know what went wrong, it's quite simple, Lebron, road games, and not making shots especially 3's in game 7. Take those criticisms how you will, but what I'll be doing for this article is taking us back on memory lane of the 2017-2018 Boston Celtics.

16 game winning streak:

Even in the beginning of the year, the Celtics were doing things that you could not imagine. Gordon Hayward snaps his ankle in half 5 minutes into the season and just like that, you're thinking well, there's next year. But yet the Celtics go on a 16 game winning streak after losing their first two games. Their 16 straight wins to basically start the year was something not a person on this planet saw coming but was one hell of a ride. Wins over PHI/SA/OKC/LAL/TOR/GS really helped turn what was a disaster situation into the belief that maybe this team was going to be just fine.

19-0 run against the Warriors:

The next fun moment from this season was when the Celtics played the Warriors at home which was also part of the 16 game win streak. This moment gets its own separate little write up because of the Warriors being in the finals. Not many teams can go on this type of run against the Warriors, but remember this game was at a time where the Celtics simply couldn’t lose, and boy did they lay it on thick in that third quarter. It was this win that probably gave us Celtics fans major confidence, because no team plays GS tougher than the Celtics have over the last 6 or so meetings. It’s really too bad we couldn’t see them match up with everything on the line because I really think they could've made games close and even get a win in the series too.

Breaking James Harden and the Rockets:

Sticking with a playoff theme here, let's not forget the literally improbable win the Celtics pulled off against the Houston Rockets on December 28. When the Celtics were having the worst half of their entire season, there was Kyrie to at least give some sort of an offensive contribution with 11 points on 5-8 shooting. When it was clear the Celtics would need a massive turnaround in the second half, on both ends to get back into this game. It was Kyrie that helped spark that. What was impressive in the second half for Kyrie besides his 15 points, he had a defensive rating of 69.8 and for Kyrie, that's amazing. Anyone that watches basketball knows Kyrie is a certified scorer but when you see him leading by example taking a stand defensively, it's a contagious feeling and that helped this team spark this incredible comeback. Speaking of great defense, the Celtics held Houston to only 9 made shots with 25/21% splits in the second half. Along with Kyrie having a great game and shut down defense, you could say Marcus Smart was the reason we won this game. Smart ended the night with 13 points on 6-14 shooting and while to some that may not be the greatest number, it shows then you're a box score watcher. This team doesn't quit because guys like Smart don’t know what it’s like to quit. Which is why this team has had multiple comeback wins this season. Some have said Smart flopped and sure you can make that case, but you have to do what you have to do to win and that's exactly what he did. He single-handedly took Harden out of his game mentally, and the Celtics won because of it. This is certainly not the first time Smart has done something like this, make a big play down the stretch to seal a game. Which is why part of me wanted a Celtics/Rockets Finals just so we could have seen Marcus Smart mentally dominate James Harden again.

Rozier Literally Stealing a Game:

The Celtics this season just loved the theme of improbable wins. Remember the Pacers game where Rozier literally stole the game for us because the Pacers forgot how to inbound the ball? I mean this game was as much of a loss as you could script it. Oladipo went off for 38 points and was rolling until the end. However, out of nowhere came Terry Rozier for the PRAYER steal to pull out the win. I don’t know how he got there, I don’t know how he was able to pull off the dunk before time expired, but it was one of those early season moments where somehow some way the Celtics seemed to pull wins out of nowhere.

Jaylen's Moment:

Now we're progressing toward the end of the season and here we have Jaylen Brown's Michael Jordan moment . By this point of the season the Jazz were rolling on their way to making a surprise playoff appearance, and the Celts were on the last game of their trip. We’ve seen them blow this game in the past so the fact that they not only won, but won it in dramatic fashion with a broken play Jaylen three was pretty fun.

Morris Breaks OKC:

While there were many other crazy regular season moments, we'll take a look at this one last regular season moment and that was the win against the Thunder. the Celtics did not have any business winning this game but as the team has done all season, they seem to find a way. With 24.7 seconds left in the 4th, this team seemed to have their odds stacked against them, especially with no Kyrie Irving. They were able to make things interesting when Tatum made a nifty driving layup along with Terry Rozier making a huge 3 pointer to cut the lead down to two. Luckily, Carmelo Anthony forgot how to make free throws and that gave this team a chance. Tatum drove to the hoop and kicked out to Marcus Morris who knocked down the incredibly clutch 3 with only 1 second left. Morris was a man on a mission in March, averaging 18.9 points with 48/46 percent splits along with 83% at the line too. Whenever the Celtics needed clutch buckets or instant offense in March (or any game really), Marcus Morris was the guy and hopefully, he can continue this dominance in the playoffs as well.

Jayson Tatum In the Playoffs and Putting Lebron On a Poster:

Celtics fans knew what Tatum was capable of, we saw it all year. However, the rest of the NBA world was not quite sure and Jayson Tatum introduced himself to the rest of the NBA world and I cannot wait for what the future holds for this kid. In the playoffs, Tatum averaged 18.5 points/4.4 rebounds/2.7 assists per game while shooting 47.1% from the field and going 32.4 % from 3. Oh and by the way, he is only 20.

Then there was this beautiful moment which I have watched at least 10 times:

Wait until next year. You've said it. I've said it. It would not shock me at all if some within the Celtics organization even said it, perhaps even as far back as October when Hayward writhed on the Cavaliers court with his foot pointing in a direction that made your stomach want to turn inside-out. For once that phrase "wait until next year" has not been more assuring than what you'd expect for any other team. So Celtics fans, wait until next year and I think you'll be having a different feeling at this time of year. This team is scary and here to stay for a very very long time.