A 16-game winning streak early in the season helped fuel interest among the team's fansNBAE/Getty Images
Celtics President Rich Gotham said that the team's season-ticket renewal rate has hit 97%, which is the "highest since the heyday" of '10, according to Jon Chesto of the BOSTON GLOBE. The "typical rate" is around 90%. The Celtics sold out all 41 home games this season -- the "best performance" since the '12-'13 season, when Kevin Garnett and Paul Pierce "last played together" in Boston. Celtics G Kyrie Irving "brought a personal following with him" after being traded to the team from the Cavaliers. But Gotham also "points to other factors" for the high renewal rate, including "residual enthusiasm from a strong playoff run last year, and the star power of others" such as rookie F Jayson Tatum and C Al Horford. Then there was the team’s "rousing comeback after a broken leg" that took F Gordon Hayward out in the "season’s first game." A subsequent 16-game winning streak "helped fuel interest among casual basketball fans earlier in the season than normal" (BOSTON GLOBE, 4/24).
