The Celtics are the NBA’s most winningest team (45-12) with 25 games remaining on their regular season schedule, but that’s not enough for Kendrick Perkins to buy any stock in Boston when looking ahead.
Perkins has been on the record for listing his many doubts about the Celtics since first speaking into an ESPN microphone, and that still hasn’t changed. The ex-Boston center and 2008 NBA Finals champ doesn’t believe the Celtics are well-equipped to handle any of the Western Conference powerhouses even though Boston’s won the majority of its matchups with teams outside of the East this season. As a result, Perkins refuses to pen the C’s down as title favorites, regardless of everything else they’ve accomplished thus far.
“When it comes down to comparing the Boston Celtics to the Western Conference, and I know these people out there in the world and the internet are gonna say, ‘They’re 13-6 against the West,'” Perkins said on ESPN’s “NBA Today” on Monday. “Well, to be honest, here’s my thing: my last sighting, when they played against the top-notch Western Conference teams like the Denver Nuggets and the Los Angeles Clippers, it was a beatdown.”
Perkins added: “What I can’t do is disrespect how hard the Western Conference is on the side of the Eastern Conference. They’re gonna have to have their battles. I don’t even have (the Celtics) favorite to win it all.”
Regardless of how Perkins feels about the Celtics, head coach Joe Mazzulla’s brain or the team’s overall chances of raising Banner 18, Boston is favorited to win the finals with +230 odds, according to FanDuel Sportsbook.
Sure, the Celtics have been humbled by both the Clippers and Nuggets, which if anything, should be learning lessons. An 82-game season isn’t gonna be smooth sailing the whole way through, although, for the Celtics, that’s been the case for most of the campaign. Not many teams have matched Boston, and in even fewer instances have the Celtics been outmatched.
While Perkins chooses to dismiss Boston’s 13-6 record when playing teams in the West, which is fair once the playoffs begin, that perspective goes both ways. Losing to the Clippers and Nuggets (by two points) doesn’t mean anything if the Celtics are riding the momentum of home-court advantage to a finals appearance against either team or anyone else in the West.
For now, Boston can focus on securing the No. 1 seed in the East.
