Celtics Clear Favorites In East? ‘Without Question,’ Says Stephen A. Smith

Stephen A. Smith continues to beat the drum.

Smith has been incredibly high on the Celtics leading up to the 2018-19 season, and he added to the hype again Thursday on ESPN’s “Get Up!” by saying Boston is “without question” the clear favorite to win the Eastern Conference and reach the NBA Finals.

In fact, Smith believes the Celtics are the only real threat to the Warriors’ chances of winning their fourth title in five seasons — Golden State guard Klay Thompson would agree — and that the Raptors are the only team that could cause problems for Boston in the East. (Toronto, of course, finished with the conference’s best record last season and traded for Kawhi Leonard this summer.)

“I look at their depth. I look at their athleticism — their willingness to defend, their ability to shoot the basketball and the coaching of Brad Stevens,” Smith said. “Combine that all with personalities that obviously get along very, very good together, along with the obvious ascension of Jayson Tatum. This dude was special last year — absolutely special. I just look at him, and the combination of him and Jaylen Brown is what does it for me.”

Smith also heaped praise on other Celtics — like Kyrie Irving, Gordon Hayward, Terry Rozier and Marcus Smart — in explaining why Boston has the potential to be great this season after losing in the Eastern Conference finals each of the last two years. And he’ll probably continue to pump Boston’s tires in the coming weeks if the past few months are any indication.

Makes sense, though. The Celtics are positioned to rule the East for the foreseeable future with LeBron James leaving the Cleveland Cavaliers and signing with the Los Angeles Lakers.