The Boston Celtics don’t need an American Express card for people to recognize them as contenders.
The Ringer on Friday placed the C’s among the “contenders” to win the NBA Finals in 2020. Ringer staff sorted all 30 teams into tiers and put the Celtics in the second-best group — behind the favorites — alongside the Denver Nuggets, Houston Rockets, Philadelphia 76ers and Toronto Raptors.
“… The quintet of second-tier teams that did make the cut is a mix of underperforming preseason cofavorites and overachieving teams from the expected middle,” Zach Kram wrote. “Within the first group, neither the Rockets nor 76ers have fully jelled; Houston craters whenever James Harden leaves the floor, while Philadelphia doesn’t even rank in the top half of the league in offensive efficiency. The Nuggets, meanwhile, look worse than their 14-5 record suggests, with Nikola Jokic, in particular, performing more like an average player than a star.
“On the other end are two clubs that haven’t taken their anticipated steps back. The Raptors have a better net rating than they did last season, with Pascal Siakam filling the vacated Kawhi Leonard role, and the Celtics have enjoyed returns to form from young wings Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown alongside new point guard Kemba Walker, who’s scoring as efficiently as ever in Kyrie Irving’s spot.”
Many believed over the summer the Celtics might struggle this season, but they quickly eased such fears by mounting a 15-5 start to the season. Not only has their good form prompted oddsmakers to boost their NBA Finals lines, but experts also have started publicly envisioning them reaching the championship series.
Boston can strengthen its case to rise into the “favorites” category Friday when it hosts the Denver Nuggets at TD Garden.
