Celtics can Accomplish Two Major Feats Against the Lakers
The Boston Celtics and Los Angeles Lakers will resume their historic rivalry this Friday at the TD Garden. The Celtics have a chance to achieve two major accomplishments in the game against their long time foe.
The Boston Celtics have had a very successful start to 2017. Thanks to Isaiah Thomas‘ historic January, the Celtics sit at second place in the eastern conference. Their opponent Friday is the Los Angeles Lakers, who started the season well but have returned to form as one of the worst teams in the NBA.
With a win on Friday, the Celtics will pass the Lakers for the most wins by a franchise in NBA history. This is a mark many Celtics fans will be proud to have over the Lakers. Also, if Boston beats LA, Brad Stevens will be named the coach of the eastern conference all star team.
Passing the Lakers on the all time wins list will be a very cool accomplishment for the Celtics to achieve. The Lakers dominated the early part of the 2000’s , while the Celtics were either in the middle of the east, or completely bottoming out.
As the Lakers have fallen off, the Celtics have continued their success following their 2008 championship season. Only missing the playoffs for one season, Danny Ainge has put together a rebuild for the ages. Passing the Lakers will be a tribute to Ainge’s great work reconstructing this team with great haste.
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The second implication of a win Friday is a much more important one. Brad Stevens coaching in the All Star game would be a great way for the Celtics to show off their fabulous head coach. Not many players in the league know how great of a coach Stevens is, and showcasing him to the top players in the east would certainly help attract star power to Boston.
Last season, when Thomas was an all star, he put on his recruiting hat and made his rounds among the NBA’s elite. If you don’t recall, Thomas came back from the all star game talking about players who asked him what it was like to play in Boston.
Newly acquired Celtics big man Al Horford had to be one of those players. Thomas was seen with Horford throughout all star weekend, and he eventually signed with the Celtics the following Summer.
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If both Stevens and Thomas represent the Celtics at all star weekend, it can only mean good things for the future of the team. There has been a lot of drama around the NBA this season, and star players might be more available than ever. It wouldn’t be so bad if those same stars liked what they saw from the Celtics head coach.