Why it’s Time to Consider the Celtics Amongst the League’s Elite

Despite the league’s fastest rebuild, people somehow still find ways to disrespect Boston

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The last two seasons, nobody’s respected the Boston Celtics. That’s okay. Even though they’ve had a remarkable turnaround from when they traded away Paul Pierce and Kevin Garnett and planned to be amongst the league’s bottom feeders for the long haul till their playoff bout against Cleveland two years ago, it was okay not to take them seriously.

Mediocrity is the recipe for death in the NBA. If you’re getting smoked every single game and don’t belong on the court with the best teams in the league, at least you have your eyes set on the wiley and tempting ping pong balls. Gunning to be the seven or eight seed is like bragging that you were the first person eliminated on The Bachelorette. You’re still a loser, but now everyone got the chance to notice it for a brief stint on national television.

The past two seasons, Boston has dealt with mediocrity. They were run off the court by the Cavs in the 2015 playoffs, and were embarrassed by the Hawks a season ago. The Celtics weren’t taken seriously, and deservedly so.

How about now? With just seven games left to play, the team that has been labeled as a mediocre gnat just waiting to be swatted away by the fly swatter named “LeBron and company” is atop the East. That’s right, you read that correctly. Boston’s team of useful role players has transformed into a team that is ahead of LeBron’s Monstars.

Yet no one is paying them any mind.

Never before has there been a team standing atop the standings that has been disregarded and disrespected like this team. Before the seemingly endless saga that is the NBA playoffs begins, the only thing people are adding to Boston’s gleaming legacy is the title of worst top seed in league history.

There are statistics that do support the claim that the Celtics aren’t headed for greatness. At the current pace they’re on, Boston is projected to finish with 54 wins, a win percentage of .646, with a +/- of just 2.66. Since the NBA’s expansion, only a handful of Eastern Conference teams have led the league with a win percentage that small. That number is staggering, but just look at the success those teams have had while having a first place record deemed lower than the norm.

The majority of those teams made the Finals, while no team fell short of the final showdown in the East. Oh and the only team on that list that has a lower plus/minus than Boston went on and won the championship.

People have no problem throwing each and every statistic at this criminally underrated Boston squad to see which one sticks, yet everyone seems to neglect the simple fact that this team hasn’t gotten a chance to play together for an extended period of time. The ideal starting lineup of Isaiah Thomas, Avery Bradley, Jae Crowder, Amir Johnson, and Al Horford only started 32 of the team’s 75 games. You want to talk about winning percentages? How about the Celtics’ winning percentage when those five start the game.

Bradley missing a third of the season is a bigger issue than many people are noticing. He’s not only the best on-ball defender in the NBA, justified by being the only guard to receive First Team All Defense last season, but he does so much for this team. He’s able to help hide Isaiah on defense, crashes the boards to allow Horford to rotate over on help defense without leaving the offensive glass wide open, and has the highest 3-point % out of any Celtic. That’s not a role player. That’s a key kog in a machine.

Yes, Cleveland has had to deal with lineup issues as well with Kevin Love out, but did you just catch yourself comparing this team to the squad that won a title by beating the greatest regular season team of all time just a year ago? Yet another neat trick those hell bent on denying Boston any credit seem to constantly pull. Somehow, they still can’t even get a pity invite to the “contenders” table. They’re still stuck on the outside looking in, kicking rocks with James Harden and company.

Just for those who still don’t think Boston’s starting five compares to Cleveland’s, just take a look at the win percentage of their most frequent lineup.

If you’re going to sit here and point out the fact that the Cavs lineup featuring DeAndre Liggins has a better win percentage, stop reading now. There is no saving you.

A team’s body of work over the course of the season is always the best way to figure out which team is actually legitimate, but since when is this not a “what have you done for me lately” league? Everybody is running around celebrating the Warriors’ recent run like the extras during the final rap battle in 8 Mile, but the Celtics’ recent success is being ignored more than the geeky kid in class asking out the head cheerleader.

Yes, this team has struggled against some of the top teams, including a 4–7 record against teams two through four in their own conference, but that was before the Celtics played with their entire unit. It’s one of those numbers that have them labeled amongst the second tier, duking it out with Washington like they have all season in the league’s newest and greatest rivalry. The only difference between the two is, Boston is just getting started.

Over their last ten games against teams currently slated to make the playoffs, Boston is 7–3 including wins against the Cavs, Wizards, and Warriors. How does this team have to gain recognition? Stand out at center court after beating yet another playoff team and beg for approval Marcus Aurelius style?

In a way, the Celtics are Marcus Aurelius. They don’t exactly slaughter each and every team that comes their way, but they’ve answered every test. Boston has everything you look for in a contender. They have a go-to scorer in Isaiah Thomas, a man who will gut you like a fish as if the defense was the reason he was picked 60th. They have D-and-3 guys in Bradley and Crowder, a number of young role players like Marcus Smart and Jaylen Brown to plug in meaningful minutes, and a veteran who’s won in the postseason before in Horford.

It’s time Boston sheds its ugly label as a mediocre team. Heading into April, people still have their minds made up. The Celtics will crumble in the postseason like they have in the past, and the Cavs will flip some sort of switch they’ve been bumbling around and searching for over the last month like they just got home from an all day booze fest.

Want to know the biggest thing people are forgetting?This isn’t last year’s Celtics, and this isn’t last year’s Cavs.

Get onboard the Celtics hype train before they’re coasting down Boylston Street in Duck Boats while the rest of the league is still trying to pick up their jaw.