Stephen A. Smith believes the Celtics have as good of a chance as any team in the conference to win the East.
Boston battled through adversity and inconsistency over the first few months of the 2021-22 NBA season, but the C’s have looked like a runaway train since late January. Ime Udoka’s team has gone 20-3 since Jan. 29 and catapulted itself all the way to fourth in the East standings. Boston, as of Wednesday afternoon, only is 2 1/2 games behind the Miami Heat for first place in the conference.
But the question remains: Are the Celtics are a legitimate Finals contender or are they merely a team on a hot streak? Smith, for one, absolutely can see Boston playing in the first week of June.
“This team, look at them defensively. They’re like a bunch of piranhas. They switch everywhere,” Smith said Tuesday on ESPN’s “First Take.” “You’ve got five guys — they get out on shooters better than anybody that I have seen. Now we come to Miami and Milwaukee. It ain’t about Giannis (Antetokounmpo), because Giannis is going to do what he does on the inside and on the open court although he’s suspect from the perimeter. Jrue Holiday, (Khris) Middleton — what they can give you, who’s a team that can calm that down because of their defensive prowess? That would be the Boston Celtics. When you look at Miami with (Tyler) Herro, with (Jimmy) Butler, even with Bam (Adebayo) because he’s really an undersized big, very athletic, but you got a Robert Williams who can make some noise for you. The pickup of (Derrick) White brought this team together as well and elevated their play defensively. In the meantime, while all of that has transpired, Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown have elevated their level of play.
“I wanna see it be more consistent, please don’t get me wrong. You weren’t that way at the beginning of the season, you’re flowing now over the last 30-plus games — I get all that. The playoffs are a different beast, but when it comes to the playoffs, you gotta remember the game slows down a little bit. You don’t get as many open-court opportunities. Team defense is able to get back, set the defense right. We know this about playoff basketball. Nobody wants Boston to do that. Because if Boston does that, that makes their defense even more formidable.”
The final stretch of the Celtics’ season will be telling. Seven of Boston’s nine final opponents before the start of the postseason currently are in the playoff field.
