Boston Celtics: The best path to an NBA Championship
These are not the same Boston Celtics that began the 2021-22 season looking like a disjointed group with not much upside, since the turn of the new year they have been a force to be reckoned with and now have real NBA title level aspirations.
With most NBA champions comes the degree of having just about everything that could go right occur in a playoff run. This means drawing the right matchups from round to round against teams you have a realistic shot at knocking off.
Injuries can play a role if the Celts draw teams that are missing key contributors. Being a full bill of health themselves will also be crucial for postseason time.
Ideally, Boston would hope to match up with at least one team in a series they are heavily projected to win. Not just win the series, but to be able to make relatively quick work of their opponent in four or five games, so a sweep or a classic gentleman’s sweep.
The C’s have so much going for them right now, they are one of the hottest teams in not just the NBA, but all of the sports. Most of the supposed weak points and question marks surrounding the team have been addressed.
January 6th has been a pinpoint date for the start of this incredible turnaround with the Celtics leading the league in defensive rating, point differential, and among the tops in net rating. More recently, their offense is rounding into the top 10 form.
One notable asterisk is Rob Williams‘ recent knee injury, but for article sake, we’ll say he returns in the second round. The path to a championship depends on that eventual return.
As Jim Carrey would say, “So you’re telling me there’s a chance?”
I am!
Without further mention, here is the ideal roadmap to an NBA Championship for the Boston Celtics:
(**Piece scheduled prior to conclusion of Monday night’s game**)
Eastern Conference quarterfinals: (1) Boston Celtics vs (8) Cleveland Cavaliers
My ideal path for this Boston Celtics team has them locking up the one seed entering the playoffs! A very realistic case since they are in first right now and have been on a roll lately.
In round one they would draw the injury-riddled Cleveland Cavaliers team who started the season hot but have since cooled down. A more than favorable series for the Celts based on how each team is trending right now in the regular season and previous matchups.
Boston won the season series two-to-one, winning the last couple of matchups after Cleveland won the initial meeting to start. These Celtics are not the same team now as they were in November and December when a big chunk of these games was played, though.
Al Horford and Jaylen Brown were only available for one of the meetings, the C’s did not have Derrick White or Daniel Theis who have played major roles in their second unit since joining the team at the trade deadline.
Payton Pritchard’s role has expanded since the meetings as he is firmly in the C’s now nine-man rotation and is having one of the most lightings in bottle stretches of his young career.
A key storyline for this potential series is the Cavs long injury list, they lost backup point guard, Ricky Rubio near the midpoint of the season to a torn ACL and were forced to trade him off to Indiana Pacers.
They lost Jarrett Allen to a figure fracture and his return is still pending, Rajon Rondo has missed a series of games with an ankle sprain, and now rotational big man, Dean Wade is on the shelf with a knee injury out indefinitely.
The Cavs are 6-11 without the services of their All-Star center and defensive anchor in the paint. The veteran point guard was acquired to replace the lost production of Ricky Rubio and now he’s injured. Cleveland is left to rely on the uncertain production of Brandon Goodwin and Moses Brown or even Ed Davis to shore up that depth.
I believe the Celts could make quick work of the Cavaliers in five games because there is no level of wing depth to deal with the Jays on Cleveland and the talent gap is too huge to ignore.
There is a gap in experience, the young Cavs outside of Kevin Love and Rajon Rondo lack many reps when it comes to the playoffs and what to expect.
This Celtics core has been there and went deep and knows what to expect and what it takes come mid-April. The shamrocks are too focused defensively and there is not a switch that has to be pulled come playoff time.
Jayson Tatum is the best player in this series and Jaylen Brown is the clear-cut second. The improved bench unit of Grant Williams, Payton Pritchard, Derrick White, and Daniel Theis will be the x-factor in a more complete team performance.
The Cavs rank 20th in bench points and are heavily relying on an aging Kevin Love and incredibly inconsistent Cedi Osman. The one game I’m giving Cleveland is the type when a big cat is playing with their food, the C’s will mount a 3-0 lead and then there will be one win out of desperation due to a marquee performance from either Darius Garland or Caris Levert.