Kristaps Porzingis sends boldly confident message on how Boston Celtics view themselves

Kristaps Porzingis gave us the lowdown on how the Boston Celtics view themselves -- and in explaining it, he took a page out of MJF's playbook, claiming they are better than every other NBA team and they know it.

“This is the type of team we have,” Porzingis said after a 119-94 win over the Detroit Pistons on March 19 (h/t MassLive). “It’s a big privilege though for us. Some guys are out — not some guys, top guys are out — and other guys just step in and we can just keep rolling as a team. It’s a privilege that I don’t know if there’s on one hand teams in the league that are like us. I don’t think so. So we believe we are on a different level and we’re going to have to show it in the postseason.”

The 2023-24 Cs have a top-five net rating in the history of the league. Teams like this tend to finish the job. Porzingis is confident this team can do that due to its depth; which only improved at the trade deadline adding Xavier Tillman and Jaden Springer.

“Depending on matchups in the playoffs, you never know,” Porzingis said. “There’s going to be different situations and it’s good that we have the flexibility and also these kind of moments where guys are sitting out and we can try out these different things. So it will definitely just add more to our toolbox.”

Joe Mazzulla: This Boston Celtics team motivates themselves

Head coach Joe Mazzulla admitted that he has an easy job, probably not giving himself nearly enough credit in the process, in sharing that his Celtics locker room has the ability to motivate themselves.

“They are self-motivated, Mazzulla said. “I think if you want to get to the level that we want to get to — there’s time for short-term motivational pockets — but the greatest strength of this team is the locker room and their character and the way that they play. We’ve had very few of those this year. No, I don’t have to do anything to motivate them. They do it on their own.”

That checks out. Getting up late in the offseason and blowing out bad teams like the Detroit Pistons, Washington Wizards, and Utah Jazz with top guys missing takes motivation.

Evidently, the Cs have it in spades. Be afraid NBA. Be very, very afraid.