Last year, the Boston Celtics ran through the playoffs without much problem. They enjoyed a 64-win regular season and then a 16-3 run in the postseason. It was a dominant display of basketball, as the Celtics were the best team in the NBA by a long shot. But this season, they have a few top-tier challengers that could stand in their way.
Out West, teams like the Oklahoma City Thunder and Denver Nuggets seem to pose the biggest threats to Boston. Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and Nikola Jokic are two of the best players in the world and both of their teams have beaten the Celtics in the past two seasons.
But this year, the Eastern Conference has some tough competitors, too.
Evan Mobley thinks defense is key to beating Celtics
The biggest threat by far seems to be the Cleveland Cavaliers. After firing JB Bickerstaff this summer, the Cavs brought on head coach Kenny Atkinson and almost the same exact roster as last year. And so far, it’s been working to perfection. They’ve jumped out to a 44-10 record.
They feel confident that they can beat the Celtics. In a conversation with DJ Siddiqi of Basketball Insiders, Cavs All-Star Evan Mobley said that Cleveland believes the key to beating Boston is defense.
”Definitely defense,” Mobley said. “They’re a great offensive team as well. If you get stops on them, it makes it tough on their offense. I feel like defense is the biggest thing for us. And defending the 3-point line, because they like to get a lot of 3-point shots up.”
Mobley and the Cavs have been having a phenomenal season, but the Celtics are up 2–1 on the season series so far. However, they’ve failed to hold the Celtics to under 110 points in any of their games (their one win coming by a score of 115-111).
Despite that, the Cavs match up very well with the Celtics in a potential playoff series. They have the bodies to defend Boston’s top stars, but not up and down the lineup.
Trading for De’Andre Hunter at the deadline means they have Mobley, Hunter, and Jarrett Allen, but Donovan Mitchell and Darius Garland give the Celtics two weak points to attack on defense.
Mobley’s thought that defense can beat the Celtics isn’t wrong, though. The Thunder did an amazing job defending Boston earlier this season with quick rotations and pestering run-around defense.
The question is, can the Cavs’ lineup match that pace?