The Boston Celtics have completely turned their season around and have to be taken seriously as title contenders.
Since Jan. 1, Boston has been the best defensive team in the league and has found its footing on the offensive end as its figured out its lineup rotations.
The Celtics have gone from floating around .500, to tied for fifth place in the Eastern Conference at 37-27 and very likely could rise in the standings if they continue to play as they have over the last two months.
Boston has turned it around so much that Basketball Reference actually is giving them the fifth-highest odds of winning the NBA Championship this season at 9.5%. The Phoenix Suns are No. 1 at 25.3%, ahead of the Golden State Warriors at 16.6%, Utah Jazz at 14.1% and Miami Heat at 10.6%.
The Celtics still have plenty of work to do and sit four and a half games behind the Heat for the top spot in the Eastern Conference, but are 8-2 over their last 10 games and have shown no signs of slowing down.
They did receive some bad luck Wednesday with Jaylen Brown set to miss Thursday’s tilt with the Memphis Grizzlies, but it sounds like his right ankle sprain won’t keep him out for long so the squad should be back to full health very soon.
