The Boston Celtics are a wagon. They dominated the regular season, posting a 64-18 record to secure the NBA’s No. 1 seed. They steamrolled the Miami Heat and the Cleveland Cavaliers in the first two rounds of the Eastern Conference playoffs, winning each series in five games. They have the best roster in the league. […]
The Boston Celtics are a wagon.
They dominated the regular season, posting a 64-18 record to secure the NBA’s No. 1 seed. They steamrolled the Miami Heat and the Cleveland Cavaliers in the first two rounds of the Eastern Conference playoffs, winning each series in five games. They have the best roster in the league. They’re battle-tested, based on past postseason experience. And they’re healthy, outside of Kristaps Porzingis, who’s working back from a calf injury.
Yet, there’s a gigantic elephant in the room: Boston’s recent inability to get over the hump and win the NBA Finals, oftentimes despite being viewed as clear-cut contenders to hoist the Larry O’Brien Trophy.
The Celtics’ near-misses — which include a trip to the 2022 NBA Finals, where they lost to the Golden State Warriors in six games — perhaps explain why some folks are gun-shy about totally buying into this year’s Boston team.
The C’s are heavy favorites to win the championship, with just eight wins standing between them and a title, yet outside skepticism persists.
It makes no sense to ESPN NBA insider Brian Windhorst, who on Friday pointed to Boston when breaking down the “most surprising” aspect of the second round of the playoffs.
Windhorst’s assessment — part of a playoff roundtable published to ESPN.com — even included a stern warning at the end.
“The Celtics are 8-2 with seven double-digit wins this postseason. Jaylen Brown and Jayson Tatum are averaging a combined 60 points and 14 rebounds per game. Boston is ranked No. 2 in offense and No. 3 in defense in the playoffs despite missing star center Kristaps Porziņģis,” Windhorst wrote. “Yet, people are abandoning the Celtics as title contenders. Their postseason opponents (the Miami Heat and the Cavaliers) had injury issues, but the Celtics had little trouble against them. Ignore them at your own risk.”
If you don’t want to bet on the Celtics, fine. There’s virtually no value in backing Boston at this stage. As of Friday, the C’s were -850 to win the Eastern Conference and -155 to win the NBA Finals at FanDuel Sportsbook.
If you like the Celtics to win, you’re better off trying to pinpoint which Western Conference opponent they’ll take down en route to securing the hardware. Or you could tap into the NBA Finals MVP market, where Jayson Tatum is a +130 favorite and Jaylen Brown sits at +700.
But betting aside, it’s hard to find flaws in the Celtics’ game right now, especially in the context of the remaining teams. Boston should win the championship. Anything less would be a disappointment.
Any hesitancy clearly is rooted in the Celtics’ past playoff failures. And it also might be misguided this time around, as there’s mounting evidence that suggests Boston really is that much better than every other team.
Ignore them at your own risk — as Windhorst stated.
