Why Doc Rivers Still Is Picking Celtics To Win Eastern Conference

A good chunk of the basketball world already has given up on the Boston Celtics’ NBA Finals chances this season, but Doc Rivers is not of that company.

The Celtics haven’t even come close to meeting their high expectations in the 2018-19 campaign, as they’re an underwhelming 11-10 at the unofficial quarter mark of the season. If you ask the man that preceded Brad Stevens as Boston’s head coach, though, it’s only a matter of time before the club turns things around.

Rivers makes a great point by bringing up the 2010-11 Miami Heat. The first season of the Dwyane Wade, LeBron James and Chris Bosh era in South Beach didn’t get off to a hot start, as those Heat began the campaign with a mediocre 10-8 record before marching to the NBA Finals. You even can look as recently as the 2016-17 Celtics, who started 13-12 before reaching the Eastern Conference finals.

The current C’s ultimately have too much talent, both in player personnel and at head coach, to be a middle-of-the-road team this season. And even if the Celtics aren’t the East’s No. 1 seed in the postseason, it’s hard to imagine any team will want to cross paths with Boston on the big stage.