Boston Celtics: 4 ways the Cs can be a top-3 seed again

Way for Boston Celtics to reclaim top-3 seed No. 4) Conference contenders slide

Obviously, there still remains that top tier of teams in the Eastern Conference that, at least I would say, are simply better than the Boston Celtics.

There are the reigning champion, Milwaukee Bucks, the Brooklyn Nets with their big-3, and the Philadelphia 76ers who held the top seed in the east last season.

Without major injuries, the Bucks and Nets likely stay atop the conference.

The Sixers, however, may take a step back.

Despite the fact that they are returning with a similar team to last year’s, there are potential problems lurking, mainly with Ben Simmons. Say what you want about him, but at the very least he is a great regular season player when teams don’t have the time to gameplan for him.

Either way, the whole feud between Simmons and Philadelphia’s front office could prove costly enough that a hot Boston Celtics team could get by them in the standings. Not to mention, the Cs have typically bested the Sixers in head-to-head matchups in recent history.

If this situation does come to fruition, then it would be on the Celtics to beat out the rest of their tier of competition in Miami, Atlanta, New York, and Indiana.

Now, I don’t know if it’s because of Tatum and Brown, the new roster, or the fact that expectations are relatively low, but, for once, I’m feeling overly excited for the Boston Celtics to play basketball again.

A lot of national media is counting them out already in many pre-season power rankings that I have seen, which I’m fine with.

If there’s one thing that has remained consistent with Celtics basketball teams over the last decade, it’s that they always perform best as underdogs, which is what they are heading into the 2021-22 season as.

So if enough branches break their way, this team could definitely find themselves defending home court in round one come springtime.