Celtics just miss out on historically relevant record for title contention

Story by

Story by
Celtics just miss out on historically relevant record for title contention

Souichi Terada · MassLive

Thu, Feb 26, 2026 ·

3 min read

About Our Ads

DENVER — The Celtics came to play against the Nuggets, at least early on, going blow-for-blow. There were 18 lead changes through the first 2.5 quarters of play, but the C’s ran out of gas. The end result was a 103-84 loss Wednesday at Ball Arena.

With the loss, the Celtics dropped to 38-20 on the season. So, they just missed out on the popular 40/20 rule, dubbed by Hall of Fame coach Phil Jackson. The C’s still went 3-1 on their four-game road trip , playing some great basketball.

“It would’ve been great to finish out strong on the road trip with a win,” Jaylen Brown said. “But 3-1 on a West Coast swing, coming straight out of All-Star break, is not half-bad. We just gotta continue to get better little-by-little. I like where we’re at as a group. I think we’re playing some really good basketball. I think our guys have developed in areas that we continue to just push along. So we just gotta keep that up.”

The 40/20 rule is a loose mark that NBA title contenders win 40 games before losing 20. About 90% of all NBA champions have fulfilled this rule with only four champions since 1980 not making it there. It’s not a certainty as there are notable exceptions dotted throughout NBA history. Only three teams have hit the mark this season: the Thunder, Spurs and Pistons.

The Celtics nearly made it to that 40/20 mark this season — and they flirted with it despite missing Jayson Tatum . If the C’s do make a title run as an East contender, the Tatum angle would be a massive factor. Tatum has yet to play this season as he continues his Achilles rehab, though there are occasional updates in his progression.

“It’s about incrementally getting better, little by little every single day,” Brown said. “I like where we’re at as a group. I like where we’re at as a team. It’s a good test going back home, playing in front of our home crowd. But we got some tough matchups coming up, so we gotta be ready.”

The loss to the Nuggets is far from a reason to be concerned despite the lofty point difference. The C’s entered the night winning nine of their past 10 games. They also played the Nuggets on the second game of a back-to-back. Importantly, the Celtics didn’t have much of a drop-off coming out of the All-Star break.

Aside from the 40/20 rule, getting a top-3 seed is also important. Only two teams in NBA history have won the title without grabbing at least a top-3 seed. The Celtics are currently in second in the East, 1.5 games better than the third-place Knicks . But the C’s still have 24 games left to play ahead of the playoffs.

“3-1 trip,” Derrick White said. “Played four good teams. We knew it was going to be a tough back-to-back. I think we’re in a really good spot. Obviously, there’s a lot to improve on and we’re going to continue to work on. But it’s a big game coming up here on Friday. We gotta be ready to go for that.”

More Celtics content