After a little reworking of their roster, the Boston Celtics are ready to make another run at the NBA title.
With Kawhi Leonard off to the Western Conference and Anthony Davis remaining in the West, the Celtics have a shot at making it to the NBA Finals. Boston is projected to win 47.2 games next season, with a 94 percent chance to make the playoffs, according to ESPN’s latest real plus-minus projections.
That would be a slight decrease in regular-season wins after the Kyrie Irving-led C’s won 49 games last season. But if Boston is able to do more than fizzle out in five games in the second round, the slight regular-season regression will seem like nothing.
The Celtics once again will be competing with both the Milwaukee Bucks and Philadelphia 76ers to claim the top spot in the East. Milwaukee is projected to win 50.7 games and once again be the Eastern Conference champion, while Philadelphia is looking at a 46.8-win projection, coming in third behind Boston.
Here’s what ESPN had to say about the Celtics:
The Celtics are one of four teams projected by RPM to rank in the top 10 in both offensive and defensive rating, something they quietly pulled off last season despite underperforming expectations. With the departures of Aron Baynes and Al Horford, defense could be the greater challenge, but Boston has strong defenders on the perimeter, led by NBA All-Defensive first-team pick Marcus Smart.
A Celtics-Bucks showdown in the East certainly will be entertaining, but Boston will have to dig deep if it wants to avenge its 2019 playoff loss to Milwaukee.
