It is not a stretch to say the Boston Celtics entered last season as the favorite to win the Eastern Conference. After finishing third in the Atlantic Division, Beantown ate a big slice of humble pie.
The Boston Celtics have experienced a ton of changes over the offseason, so it is tough to predict how this team will function throughout the season. Some might argue that the team lost some talent over the offseason, but it might benefit the team’s unity.
Major changes also took place outside of Boston in the Eastern Conference this offseason. Kawhi Leonard left the Toronto Raptors fresh off a championship run and Kevin Durant joined the Brooklyn Nets, just to mention a few.
The major players in the East this year along with the Boston Celtics are the Milwaukee Bucks, Philadelphia 76ers, Toronto Raptors and the Indiana Pacers. The Brooklyn Nets are decent as well, but I don’t see them contending for the East in the regular season if Durant is not healthy.
My regular season prediction: Boston finishes 3rd in the Conference
Third place would not be a bad spot for the Celtics, but second would be much better because they would have home-court advantage in the conference semifinals. I do believe Boston will function much better this year, but there are two teams that they don’t match up well with.
First is the Philadelphia 76ers. The C’s have had Philadelphia’s number over the past few seasons, but I believe that will change this season. My reasoning for this is simple — Al Horford.
Losing Horford to the 76ers was a double whammy in a bad way for Boston. Horford did a great job at containing Joel Embiid whenever these teams faced off and I believe he is the main reason for their success against Philadelphia.
Not only have the Boston Celtics lost a quality two-way player, but now they have to go against him on four separate occasions. The Celtics will have a tough time containing both Embiid and Horford in the post. I do believe they match up well with the 76ers’ wings, but not so much down low.
Another team I believe the Boston Celtics will be hard-pressed to beat is the Milwaukee Bucks. Aside from Game 1 of last season’s conference semifinals, the Bucks manhandled the Celtics.
Milwaukee asserted its dominance over Boston with a 4-1 series victory. What was clear to me during that series was the size and strength advantage the Bucks had.
The Bucks return a very similar roster to last season with the addition of two seven-footers in Robin Lopez and Dragan Bender. The Bucks also added Kyle Korever and Wesley Matthews to add some 3-point shooters to an already deadly offense. I just believe the Celtics will struggle against this team again this season.
With all this said, I believe the Celtics will be near the top of the Eastern Conference. This team has all the necessary pieces to be a contender with a nice mix of veteran and young players.
As you can tell from this article, I believe Boston’s main weakness will be down low. I love the addition of Enes Kanter, but I don’t see another reliable power forward or center on the roster. This gives guys like Robert Williams and Daniel Theis the chance to step up and show their potential.
I expect the Boston Celtics to play small with either Gordon Hayward or Jayson Tatum starting at power forward. We have seen this strategy work out for other teams, but I think it is going to be a problem when the Celtics have to face the 76ers and Bucks.