The Boston Celtics are, on paper, the best team in the NBA’s Eastern Conference. But even the team’s owner knows the East standings don’t exactly reflect the conference’s hierarchy.
Celtics co-owner Wyc Grousbeck joined WEEI’s “Ordway, Merloni & Fauria” radio show Wednesday afternoon, hours before the Celtics secured the No. 1 seed ahead of the No. 2 seed Cleveland Cavaliers entering the NBA playoffs. Grousbeck was asked how his bunch compared to the defending NBA champions, and he gave a surprisingly candid answer.
“I don’t think we’re as good as Cleveland,” Grousbeck said, via WEEI.com. “If we got a chance to play them in the postseason, I’d love to see it, but I’m not sure how it would turn out.”
The Celtics owner has a point, of course: The Cavs won their season series with Boston 3-1 and demolished the C’s on their home floor on April 5. But Grousbeck wants his club to use that loss as motivation to set up a rematch.
“I actually hope the guys don’t forget that,” Grousbeck said. “I hope the guys don’t forget how badly we were beaten last week and they can use it as fire going forward.”
Still, Grousbeck believes even that blowout win over Boston wasn’t the peak of Cleveland’s postseason potential.
“That was Cleveland clicking on one cylinder, if you ask me,” he said. “I don’t want to disrespect them, but I saw LeBron (James) take that game over single-handedly. … I’m not disrespecting Kyrie (Irving) or Kevin Love or anyone else on the team, but LeBron took that over for a period of about six possessions there on the offensive and defensive end of the court.
“He dominated us. I have to give him a ton of credit. It showed us that we’ve got a ways to go.”
Thumbnail photo via David Butler II/USA TODAY Sports Images
