We’re used to titles, and let’s face it, right now the Celtics are all we’ve got, and other thoughts

The New England sports world is very different now.

The once-stable Patriots are coming off back-to-back four-win seasons, working with their third coach in three years, and selected Will Campbell, an offensive tackle (whee!), with the No. 4 pick in the draft Thursday night. The Bruins just failed to make the playoffs for the first time since 2016, and this fall will have their fifth head coach since 2017 (unless interim coach Joe Sacco is retained). The Red Sox have been a .500 team and finished last three times in five seasons since trading Mookie Betts in 2020, and they go into this weekend one game over .500.

And then we have the Celtics, kings of New England, princes of Basketball America, and stars of NBA, HBO, TNT, ABC, ESPN, and radio-free Scalabrine.

Here in the spring of 2025, the Celtics are by far our best hope for champagne and balloons. They won the NBA crown last season with a 16-3 playoff run and we fully expect another duck boat parade down the Champs de Boylston sometime after Flag Day. It’s not going to be Orlando Easy for the next three rounds, but — fair or unfair — Joe Mazzulla’s got the best team and anything shy of Banner 19 will be a disappointment.

Let’s enjoy the playoff ride. At this hour, the Celtics are all we’ve got.

It’s hard to know what to make of the other three.

The Red Sox have the same record as this time last year (14-13) and continue to lead the majors in strikeouts and errors (that’s bad, right?). They’re in Cleveland for the weekend, wobbling in second place behind the Yankees but totally capable of staying in the race for the top of the mediocre American League East. It’s been tough to watch Rafael Devers and Triston Casas at the plate, but Alex Bregman, Garrett Crochet, and Aroldis Chapman have been great additions and the team is more fun to watch than it’s been since 2018.

There’s a lot of enthusiasm around the 4-13 Patriots and the selection of Campbell represents an important move to protect franchise quarterback Drake Maye. But the Pats still have a thin roster, a dearth of offensive skill players, and persistent questions regarding chain of command. Fans want to believe that new coach Mike Vrabel gets to shop for the groceries, but the ongoing presence of Eliot Wolf underscores the nagging notion of Kraft family interference.

The Bruins’ autopsy press conference Wednesday was a tension convention featuring Charlie Jacobs, Cam Neely, and Don Sweeney. It’s always good to see ownership accountability, but this awkward session featured a level of pushback (“Can you just elaborate on that a little bit, Kevin?” — Neely to the Globe’s Kevin Paul Dupont when asked about poor drafts) and stubbornness that makes one worry about the future of the franchise. It’s redundant to amplify the excellent takes of Brother Dupont, so let me echo the fear that, “Leave it alone, fire another coach,” has become the front office’s all-encompassing fallback position.

⋅ Quiz: 1: Name the top five Celtics in playoff points; 2. Name seven MLB sluggers who hit 40 or more homers in a season after playing for the Red Sox (answers below).

⋅ Don’t look now but Ted Wells is back in the news. The man who filed the infamous “Wells Report,” which resulted in Tom Brady’s four-game suspension and severe Deflategate sanctions for the Patriots, is part of the Harvard Corporation — a secretive board that runs the university. On Monday, Harvard filed a lawsuit against the Trump Administration, challenging the president’s threats to slash billions of dollars from the school’s funding. The New York Times reported that the suit was filed one day after a Corporation video meeting in which Theodore V. Wells — a high-profile partner at the Paul Weiss law firm “vociferously agreed” that Harvard should push back against the Trump Administration. Hmm. Where does the Ideal Gas Law fit into this equation? Wonder if the Trump White House will be motivated to compose its own “Wells Report In Context” after this shakes out.

⋅ The Dallas Mavericks should have checked with the Boston Red Sox before trading Luka Doncic. Some decisions cause irreparable franchise harm. We are in year six of the post-Mookie rubble and only now are the Sox beginning to emerge from the damage done.

⋅ Hope you’re watching Knicks vs. Pistons to scout the next round for the Celtics. The first three games of the series were an homage to the 1980s roller-derby ball the Celtics played vs. the 76ers and Pistons. Young Detroit snapped an NBA-record 15-game playoff losing streak with a win at Madison Square Garden Monday. This came after losing all composure and blowing a big lead in the second half of Game 1. Cade Cunningham is an NBA star and Dennis Schroder, who played 49 games with the Celtics in 2021-22, has been spectacular off the bench at the point. The Pistons went from 14 wins in 2023-24 to 44 wins this season and are dangerous but immature. The Knicks, meanwhile, have more floppers than Manchester United and will drive Celtics fans crazy should they meet in a seven-game series.

⋅ Disappointing to hear Knicks coach Tom Thibodeau complaining about free throw disparity after New York’s Game 2 loss. After Detroit took 34 foul shots to New York’s 19, Thibs said, “Obviously, huge discrepancy in free throws. Huge. I gotta take a look at that, right?” Actually, no, Coach. You’ve been around too long. That’s the lament of a sports talk-radio caller. When the other team takes a lot more free throws than your team, it generally means the other team is working harder than your team.

⋅ Shortstop J.P. Crawford, who did damage when the Mariners were in town this past week (four RBIs Wednesday) is the first cousin of Carl Crawford, one of the epic free agent busts in Red Sox history. Carl Crawford did tremendous damage when playing for the Rays against the Red Sox, but when he came to Boston in 2011, he was a mess. “When he played against us, we hated him,” said a uniformed member of the Red Sox. “When he played for us, we hated him.”

⋅ The Oklahoma City Thunder’s 12.9-point average margin of victory during the regular season is the best in NBA history. Swell. I still wish they were the Seattle SuperSonics.

⋅ The Farce of College Sports 2025: St. John’s men’s basketball coach Rick Pitino has got his top six rotation set for next season. Zuby Ejiofor is St. John’s lone returning starter. He’ll be joined by a fab five bought from the transfer portal: Ian Jackson from North Carolina, Bryce Hopkins from Providence, Fall River native Joson Sanon from Arizona State, Oziyah Sellers from Stanford, and Dillon Mitchell from Cincinnati. Nice recruiting class there. Boola-boola!

⋅ Speaking of Pitino, the coaching legend did himself no favors with his appearance in the excellent nine-part HBO documentary “Celtics City.” His explanation for taking away Red Auerbach’s title as team president remains hollow, and it was just plain weird to learn that Pitino required general manager Chris Wallace to “make weight” for the start of training camp.

⋅ Who hired Pitino as men’s basketball coach at Providence College back in 1985? Lou Lamoriello, that’s who. Lamoriello, who turns 83 in October, was let go as GM of the New York Islanders Tuesday. Could this be the end? What a career. Once a math teacher at Johnston Senior High School in Rhode Island, Lamoriello went on to become Providence’s men’s hockey coach, and later athletic director. He was the first commissioner of Hockey East and an Hockey Hall of Famer in executive positions with the Devils, Maple Leafs, and Islanders. He’s also in the Cape Cod Baseball League Hall of Fame. Ryan Bowness, son of former Bruins coach Rick Bowness, is one of many candidates to replace Lamoriello in Long Island.

⋅ Juan Soto isn’t even warmed up yet, but the Mets are flying. The Amazin’s swept the estimable Phillies at home this past week and are 12-1 at Citi Field.

⋅ Hall of Fame lefthander Jim Kaat sent a missive to remind me that the first home run he issued was to Red Sox shortstop Don Buddin.

⋅ Best short-armed athlete of my lifetime: Former NBA All-Star big man Jeff Ruland (was he “McFilthy” or “McNasty”?). A star at Iona for Jim Valvano, Ruland was drafted by the Bullets and became a two-time NBA All-Star despite notoriously short arms. Ruland once had a dental emergency while attending an Orioles game at Memorial Stadium in the 1980s, and the tooth was pulled by Orioles team publicist Dr. Charles Steinberg, DDS. Atlanta Hawk Kevin Willis (“T-Rex Arms”) was another short-armed pro sports star.

⋅ Kristian Campbell’s Opening Day single in Texas is still a hit. The kid’s hard chopper was poorly played by charging third baseman Josh Jung, and the Rangers petitioned MLB to call it an error, but the request was denied. So the ball Campbell presented to his parents is, in fact, the ball from his first big league hit.

⋅ Holy Cross plans to retire the baseball jersey numbers of Ron Perry Sr., Louis Sockalexis, Jack Barry, Owen Carroll, and Jim O’Neill before Saturday’s 1 p.m. game. vs. Lafayette at Fitton Field.

⋅ Now that Jerry Lewis has passed, who’d be a good running mate for future presidential candidate Stephen A. Smith? Carl Everett?

⋅ Quiz answers: 1. Larry Bird (3,897), John Havlicek (3,776), Kevin McHale (3,182), Sam Jones (2,909), Paul Pierce (2,843); 2. Babe Ruth (1920, ’21, ’23, ’24, ’26, ’27, ’28, ’29, ’30, ’31, ’32); 2. Ben Oglivie (1980), Brady Anderson (1996), Ellis Burks (1996), Jose Canseco (1998), Carlos Pena (2007), Kyle Schwarber (2022, ’23).

Dan Shaughnessy is a Globe columnist. He can be reached at daniel.shaughnessy@globe.com. Follow him @dan_shaughnessy.