NY Post: Road to NBA Finals runs through the Boston Celtics
We all knew it as the truth deep down, but we’re glad NY Post Nets writer Brian Lewis has confirmed it: the road to the 2023 NBA Finals runs through the Boston Celtics in the Eastern Conference.
Owning the league’s only record with a 70% winning percentage as of this writing and being the only team with a top-four offense and defense, Boston is the current betting favorite in most sportsbooks to win this season’s title.
Lewis believes that winning a title requires being able to beat the Cs in the postseason, sharing as much in a piece titled ‘Nets’ title hopes hinge on solving troubling inability to beat Celtics’:
"“They are going to have to figure out a way to beat the Celtics, unlock whatever cheat code is necessary to defeat the NBA’s best team. Because the road to a championship — hell, right now the path to even reaching the Eastern Conference finals — runs through Boston. And the Celtics have taken the measure of the Nets again and again … and again.”"
The primary competition for the Boston Celtics in the east
When it comes to serious competition the Boston Celtics must contend with in the Eastern Conference, the Milwaukee Bucks stand above the rest. Even without Khris Middleton for 40 games, the Bucks have been the clear No. 2 team in the Association.
It's wild that the Bucks are only 2.5 games behind the Celtics and they've only had Middleton for 12 games.
— Marc D'Amico (@Marc_DAmico) February 2, 2023
Giannis + coaching + system = success no matter what
Milwaukee drove Boston to the brink during the 2022 postseason, taking them to seven games without their No. 2 option. The Miami Heat, the other team that took these Cs to seven games, has fallen off in 2022-23.
As for the rest, as legitimate as the Philadelphia 76ers may seem, there’s no proof they can hang with the Celtics in a series. Joel Embiid and co. have never reached the conference finals, and James Harden, at this stage of his career, may not be able to drag them any further.
Brooklyn is a Kevin Durant or Kyrie Irving explosion away from winning any game, but the lack of depth and volatility of their stars will ultimately be their undoing. The Cleveland Cavaliers haven’t proven consistent enough to be in this conversation. Ditto on down the standings.
It’s Boston, it’s Milwaukee, and then it’s everyone else in the east.