The unexpected success of the Boston Celtics in the NBA's 2025-26 regular season to date has been the revelation of the year for many around the NBA. With players like Luke Kornet, Al Horford, Jrue Holiday, and Kristaps Porzingis leaving the team in the 2025 offseason via trade and free agency as the Celtics' front office trimmed a potentially massive tax bill for a campaign that saw Jayson Tatum sidelined with injury, lowered expectations were the norm heading into the season from fans and analysts both.
But if you ask the coach of the Los Angeles Lakers if he was surprised by Boston's unlikely play at a contention level this season before the dust settled on a 111-89 Celtics win on Sunday (Feb. 22) night, JJ Redick might be doing the surprising with his reply.
"Not surprised," he explained. "I think, in terms of how (Boston head coach) Joe (Mazzulla) wants to play, they have enough of the right personnel."
"I don't think anybody should be surprised at how good a season Jaylen Brown and Payton Pritchard are having," he added. "Jaylen in particular, conference finals MVP, MVP, and getting to carry it as the number one guy every night."
"And he's just improved so much year to year. It's actually ... remarkable. I was watching personnel tape yesterday and went on our internal site and was looking at his drive numbers, going left versus right, and everybody said he couldn't go left. I mean, there's just no holes in his game. And I think starting with a player like that and then having all of the shooting and then Pritchard's ability to break down defenses in isolation with shooting all around that."
"I think Joe is— there's a handful of coaches that I think are doing a tier one job this year, and Joe's in that group of coaches. He's really doing a phenomenal job."
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This article originally appeared on Celtics Wire: For Lakers coach JJ Redick, Celtics success no surprise