The Boston Celtics are for real. That much we know.
But what is the ceiling of their 2021-22 squad?
FiveThirtyEight on Tuesday projected the Celtics' chances of winning the 2022 NBA Finals at 18%. That figure is the highest of the NBA's 30 teams with one-plus month remaining in the regular season.
FiveThirtyEight projects Boston's chances of reaching the 2022 NBA Finals at 30%, the highest of any Eastern Conference team and the second-best in the NBA, trailing only the Phoenix Suns.
The Celtics are 36-27 and in sixth place in the Eastern Conference standings. So how can a team with those relatively modest marks generate such a high projection of success?
Well to start with, they are 17-6 in their last 23 games. Head coach Ime Udoka credits the players' commitment to sharing the ball and their uptick in defensive intensity for the ongoing surge.
The NBA community certainly has taken notice of the Celtics' improvement, and FiveThirtyEight's RAPTOR projections, which are based on player ratings, have moved in synch.
