The Boston Celtics currently possess the NBA’s longest consecutive string of postseason appearances at a total of nine since the last time the Celtics were a lottery team. That happened at the end of the last era of Celtics contention when what was left of the “New Big Three” of Kevin Garnett, Paul Pierce, and Ray Allen were traded to the Brooklyn Nets with Jason Terry after Allen had decamped to the Miami Heat.
Somehow, after losing their title core for the haul then-team president Danny Ainge extracted from the Nets as well as their head coach Doc Rivers to the Los Angeles Clippers, a smart hire in Brad Stevens and good lottery luck had Boston out of the hunt for just one season.
