Here’s Where Celtics Fall On ESPN’s NBA Early-Season Panic Meter

The Boston Celtics haven’t gotten off to the start they would have liked, but ESPN’s NBA experts aren’t too concerned about the squad yet.

Through 14 games the Celtics sit at 7-7 — good for ninth place in the Eastern Conference — but they have started to turn things around of late. Boston has won three of its last four games, including a gutsy 98-92 win over the Cleveland Cavaliers on Monday, and reinforcements could be on the way soon with Jaylen Brown’s return expected within the next few days.

ESPN’s experts place the Celtics’ panic meter at a 4/10 right now with the biggest reasons for hope being the fact that they’ve lost some heartbreaking overtime games so far that could’ve swung the other way, and the fact that Jayson Tatum’s woeful shooting slump won’t last forever.

The Celtics have been marred by inconsistency so far in 2021, but they slowly have started to look like that was expected, namely due to the fact that their defensive intensity has increased tenfold. Now they just have to figure out the offense.