Can anyone beat the Celtics to the championship this year?
Celtics fans will need no reminding that their team has lost four Eastern Conference finals in the last seven years. In the other three years, we saw a first-round loss to the Nets, a Conference semifinals series defeat to Milwaukee – and then there was the NBA Finals loss to Steph Curry and his Golden State Warriors.
We may not have even made it to March Madness’ annual takeover of the basketball news part of the season, but most people seem to have Boston down to finally win the championship this year. If you like to work on your NBA betting strategies, figuring out if the Celtics can lose is keeping you pretty busy right now.
The Celtics have some of the best players in the league – playing as the best team in the NBA. The more anxious among you probably won’t like us even raising the question. But, can anyone actually beat Boston to the championship this year?
Comeback Bucks
Once again, the Celtics have dominated the Eastern Conference and looked the most consistent team in the entire league. But there are a few teams that we should still be keeping an eye on. One of those is an organization that looked to be suffering from a change in coach – but has begun to get back into its groove recently.
After a disappointing first-round exit last year, the Bucks brought in Adrian Griffin as head coach. Even though Milwaukee had the second-best record in the league, he was gone by the end of January and former Celtics coach Doc Rivers was brought in. The team immediately went into free fall. But things have gotten better recently and Giannis and Dame could end up ruining Boston’s dreams in the East.
Playoff Miami
The Cavs and the Magic are two teams that look more like troubling Boston’s run to the Eastern Conference title at the moment. But we should forget about Miami at our peril. We have some recent history with the playoff version of the Heat – and it has not always gone to plan.
Miami could well end up having to navigate the Play-in Tournament once again. But if this team does end up facing the Celtics later in the postseason, there will be some nervous fans trying not to remember how it has all gone wrong before. The Heat is a team that loves the playoffs – and Jimmy Butler is one of the best at that special time of the year.
Back-to-Back Champs
Let’s assume that Boston does make it through the Eastern Conference finals. Which team from the West is most likely to stand it its way of a first championship since 2008? There are strong teams and players all across that conference but another championship for the Nuggets cannot be discounted.
Mike Malone knows his players so well – and is a very good coach. There are the shooting skills of Jamal Murray and we can’t forget the league’s best player, Nikola Jokić. A Boston-Denver matchup would get everyone very excited but will probably be filling Celtics fans with dread.
The Rest of the Best of the West
If the Nuggets somehow don’t end up winning the West again, which other teams should Joe Mazzulla be concerned about? Karl Anthony-Towns suffering a potentially season-ending torn meniscus could also do for Minnesota’s title hopes. The Thunder’s resurgence also seems a little too early for talk of championships.
If all three of Kawhi Leonard, James Harden, and Paul George remain fit and healthy, the Clippers surely have to be in the mix, while LeBron’s dreams of a final championship look to be sipping away. The Celtics would probably be fairly confident about facing the Pelicans or the Suns too.
Celtics Domination
Charles Barkley has been pretty vocal recently (no change there then!) about how good he thinks this Celtics team is. He’s not the only one and Boston have been just about unplayable at times this season. We have seen it all before, of course. But maybe Sir Charles has a point.
Last year there was a bottleneck at the top of the East when the regular season ended. But no other team is even getting close to the Celtics this year and they have two of the best players in the league in Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown. Surely only a bad injury can stop them?
Chokers?
It seems very unfair to label this Celtics team as chokers. But it does also feel as though Boston should have competed in more than one NBA finals series in the last six or seven years. The last two seasons have been particularly hard to take after looking so good during the regular season.
The Bruins blowing their incredible regular season record last year just made everything even worse for Boston sports fans and this city does not want to start getting a reputation for losing against all odds. The Celtics will just have to prove that they have what it takes.
NBA Champs 2024
NBA champions do not get crowned at the beginning of March. That should be one of the first things that the current roster – and fans – have learned from the last few years. But it does really feel as though the title is beginning to look like it is Boston’s to lose.
We are obviously all against tempting fate but this Celtics team is just so good. So we’re going to call it - if everyone can stay injury-free we think this will finally be the year when the long-suffering fans at the Garden get to celebrate a record-breaking 18th championship.
