Any thought, if repeated enough, becomes a cliché; any cliché rings hollow and is thus up for debate. These are the rules—except, of course, when it comes to the city of Boston and its professional sports teams.

The city’s reputation, including the part where it’s racist as hell, is well-deserved and its teams (well, more like its fans) are self-satisfied dynasties that think they have a God-given right to championships. Boston is the city everyone hates and its teams are despised accordingly. There are exceptions. Though in Boston’s case, they have to be pretty damn extreme. Bill Russell, one of the most universally respected human beings, gets a pass. And he hated the place when he played there.

This may just be, like, my opinion, but it’s one shared by a hell of lot of other people. And that only makes more miraculous that the current Celtics team, at least from my anecdotal perch, are pushing into the conferences Finals as the most likable team left standing, and for avowed Boston haters like myself, it’s a very strange feeling. The Kelly green jerseys and the parquet floor that once made me sick to my stomach now get me amped. And if Twitter counts for anything, I’m not alone.

It’s hard to point to one single factor that makes these Celtics such a joy to behold, especially when so many of us go to great lengths to find them unsympathetic. Two of their biggest selling points could easily have backfired. The underdog angle is compelling—this team was supposed to underperform without Gordon Hayward and without Kyrie Irving. But presumably, the truly petty among us could never see Boston as plucky over-achievers and would instead be sickened by their good luck. Of course the Celtics, already one of the most storied franchises in all of sports, would lose two All-Stars in their prime and instantly slot in youngsters Jayson Tatum, Jaylen Brown, and Terry Rozier to effectively replace. If any team doesn’t deserve this regenerative power, it’s the Celtics.

The Celtics are also basketball nerd caviar, an effortlessly smart operation that brings the proverbial Right Way to life in surprising and dramatic ways. Their ball movement is sublime; they rarely waste field goal attempts; their defense is heady and imposing. While the team is running a system, it never feels constricting. As has always been the case with the Spurs, the system sets the players up for success and maximizes their talent. But as has also been the case with the Spurs, this has sparked a wave of coach worship that threatens to overshadow the contributions of the players. Given the dynamics of the NBA, this can have some unpleasant overtones to it. Watching the Celtics, though, it’s nearly impossible to not get excited about Brad Stevens. He’s no authoritarian; nor is he holding his players back. The way he puts his stamp on key possessions, and the overall fluidity of the team, is simply good for the game.

Until further notice, though, the NBA remains a player’s league, and above all else it’s the Celtics’ cast of characters that makes them so watchable. Stevens’s imagination is only part of the story here. The poise, productivity, and sheer aggressiveness of his relatively young team can blow you away; their energy and refusal to cave to narrative is infectious. Tatum, in particular, has come into his own at both end of the court as a full-fledged monster who—as crazy as it sounds—calls to mind both prime Tracy McGrady and pre-injury Grant Hill. Throughout the season, Ben Simmons and Utah’s Donovan Mitchell were praised for their maturity while Tatum was a wait-and-see proposition. Over the last few weeks, the two top Rookie of the Year candidates have been up and down, while Tatum—whose game is smooth in concept and violent in execution—has shattered Larry Bird’s franchise records for rookie playoff scoring. Brown, while not (yet) an all-consuming force like Tatum, has a knack for heady plays that keep the offense or defense humming along. Along with Al Horford, generally most often mentioned as a potential trade piece, he’s the natural extension and expansion of Steven’s philosophy. And while Terry Rozier’s brazen confidence is a welcome wild card, he also has a level of control and awareness that makes him perfectly suited for this team. He’s been a killer in fourth quarters, a swaggering early 2000s scoring point guard updated for the analytics age. He almost never makes the wrong decision.