In the wake of a busy basketball weekend that saw the Celtics notch impressive wins on Friday night and Sunday afternoon, the NBA world woke up on Monday morning, buzzing about the return of Jayson Tatum.
Tatum has now played in two games for Boston, putting up 15, 12, and 7 in a 20-point win over the Mavericks at home, then dropping 20 points in a convincing victory over the red-hot Cavaliers in Cleveland.
He may not look like 100% of the Jayson Tatum we knew and loved, but he looks pretty damn close, and he has another 18 games of regular-season action to keep ramping up before, hopefully, a long playoff run.
On the latest episode of the Hoop Collective, Brian Windhorst, Tim McMahon, and Tim Bontemps, all of ESPN, raved about JT’s comeback and about how good he already looks. In fact, Bontemps began by matter-of-factly stating that this past weekend has reestablished the Celtics as clear favorites in the East as long as Tatum can stay on the court.
Windy and Banned McMahon largely agreed with Bontemps, as they all discussed how the Celtics have been among the favorites all season, and adding Tatum back into the mix has allowed them to level up in a way that no other team in the conference is going to be able to do, at this point.
The Celtics are the clear favorites to win the Eastern Conference
At first blush, it still feels wild to hear these things from respected members of the national media. The Hoop Collective isn’t exactly First Take, so these are some well-thought-out, widely respected opinions.
The thing is, as much as it might feel like some crazy overreaction after just two games, nothing about what Bontemps said is a ‘hot take’. The Celtics were already playing great without Tatum, and it’s clear already that he’s bringing them to another level, and the team is still just scratching the surface.
Boston is now 43-21 on the season, good for second place in the East, just 2.5 games against a suddenly struggling, unproven Pistons team. They’re also now multiple games ahead of the Knicks and Cavaliers, who each have plenty of their own question marks.
When you just look at the landscape of the conference, it’s hard to argue that anyone but the Celtics has the best team, the best coach, the most proven talent, and the only thing close to real playoff scars and championship DNA.
And sure enough, the sports books agree. As of Monday afternoon, the Celtics have jumped all the way to +170 favorites to represent the East in the Finals according to DraftKings. That’s well ahead of the Cavaliers (+340), Pistons (+425), and Knicks (+450), which just adds further credence to Bontemps’ not-so-hot take.Â
Sorry to the rest of the Eastern Conference, but this suddenly wide-open situation has now completely tilted back to Boston, and the Celtics are the clear favorites to make the Finals once again.