Celtics just made compelling case that Banner 19 is theirs to lose

Before Jayson Tatum returned, the Boston Celtics made it clear they still weren't too far below from being among the NBA's best teams. Since Tatum's return, they've made it clear that they're just about as good as they've ever been.

Last night's historic win over the Miami Heat doesn't resonate as much as it did back when they had Jimmy Butler, but the fashion in which the Celtics beat them is further proof of how dangerous they are. The ALL NBA Podcast revealed a statistic that demonstrates that winning the title is definitely not out of the question for Boston.

Boston technically does not boast the NBA's best offensive rating (Denver does), but stats like these prove how historically potent their offense is when they are firing on all cylinders. Last night, the Celtics didn't annihilate the Heat overall (because Miami couldn't miss from three), but they overpowered the Heat's defense, one end of the floor where they have actually been solid.

Boston having that in their arsenal proves how big a threat they are and have been. The fact that they did it three times before Tatum's return is impressive enough, but now that they've done it since he's come back, it only shows how seamless working him back into the team has been and how high their ceiling is with everyone on the team.

Boston might not be the favorite, but they shouldn't be counted out

Narratively, many are hesitant to pick Boston to win the title because what they've done this season has been unprecedented. We've never seen a team lose its best player for the majority of the season, lose a sizable portion of its title core, still play at a borderline elite level, and then get said best player back just in time to work him into shape just before the postseason.

But Tatum and co. have managed to break new boundaries. So much so that the Celtics have a death lineup that has been kept mostly hidden, but likely won't once the playoffs come around. It's also hard to pick a team to be a contender when they are very differently constructed from the team that won the title two years prior.

So much can happen in the postseason. Tatum may look spryer than pretty much everyone imagined, but Achilles tears are still notorious for making players more susceptible to injuries. Boston also has a long history of having some bad luck.

However, they've shown through the Tatum debacle that bad luck doesn't stop them, and look where it's gotten them. If things continue to go their way, Banner 19 may be on the come up!