By Jordan Long
The Boston Celtics finished last season with a record of 55-27, 2nd in the Eastern Conference. In the playoffs, they held a 3-2 series lead over the Cleveland Cavaliers in the Eastern Conference Finals. Unfortunately, the Celtics couldn’t finish the job as the Cavaliers won games 6 and 7.
This upcoming season there are higher expectations for the Celtics. According to ESPN, Celtics shooting guard Jaylen Brown made a bold statement saying, “Oh, we’re getting to the Finals. No question about it.”
The Celtics should be one of the top teams in the Eastern Conference next year. They kept the core of Jayson Tatum, Al Horford, Jaylen Brown, and Kyrie Irving. All of them are dangerous scorers and feed each other on the court. Opponents have a difficult time against them.
On defense the Celtics are tough to score on. They don’t allow the opposing teams to dictate the flow of a game. They try to force opponents to have terrible looks at the basket. One player the Celtics are going to need to rely on down low is Marcus Morris. He is usually matched up with the top scorer from the rival teams. Morris rebounds the ball with an average of 5.4 rebounds per game and those start fast breaks for the Celtics to add more points to the scoreboard.
The Celtics don’t need to improve much to make a run to the Finals like Brown stated. One athlete they missed all of last year, who could have been the difference in advancing to the Finals, was Gordon Hayward. He missed the season with a dislocated ankle and fractured tibia which occurred on opening night. A healthy Hayward will add to the offense because of his ability to feed his teammates for open looks.
On paper the Celtics should be the top team in the East now that LeBron James is in the West. Boston has the talent. The only way their title hopes are derailed are injuries. They can’t afford to have a star player out for a length of time. Hopefully Brown can deliver on his prediction.
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