Should the Boston Celtics be favorites in the East?
It’s unbelievable to think about. It’s unimaginable to even process what is currently going on in Boston right now. Defying all odds to this exact moment, the Boston Celtics currently are on a 15-game winning streak and will most likely make it 16 with a win against the Dallas Mavericks tonight.
And now that the Celtics are proving to the rest of the NBA that they are a contender this year in the East, it’s important to think about how the team is expected to stack up against the other top contenders in the East by the end of the season. To no one’s surprise, those teams should be the Cleveland Cavaliers and the Milwaukee Bucks.
We’ll start off with the least likely team: Milwaukee. This team is on the rise and only a season or two away from winning the East, but there’s always a chance that the team could be ahead of schedule. With Giannis Antetokounmpo currently playing like a possible MVP candidate and now adjoined with Eric Bledsoe, the Bucks are getting closer each game to securing their grasp on the East.
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But, as I said before, the Bucks aren’t there quite yet, and the Celtics should have no problem defeating them earlier in their Playoff run. But of course, there’s always Cleveland. Now, despite the fact that the Cavaliers struggled early and have had some injury troubles, the team is still not to be reckoned with.
The Celtics are young and hungry and they have proven game after game that they are ready to compete for the top spot in the East, but if you think for a second that Lebron James isn’t the best player in the league and that he doesn’t have the capability to carry a team, just look back at his Cleveland roster from 2007.
I know, that was 10 years ago, and the other seven finals he’s had a lot of help getting there, but you can’t discount LeBron. The man is an absolute beast on the basketball court, and now that Isaiah Thomas is set to return eventually, the Cavaliers (assuming that everyone is healthy) will be very hard to defeat.
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But the Celtics are the best in the league right now for a reason. So, I think that we are definitely going to see a Boston vs. Cleveland Eastern Conference Finals this season. I can’t predict a victory for you all at this moment, but Boston is hungry for revenge from last year, and although the rosters for both teams have changed a lot, this potential and probable matchup would be a series for the ages. Let’s just hope that this dream becomes a reality.