Boston Is Surging & They Got Better Thursday

[kuclas]

The east is very weird. Teams go up and down in standings quickly especially with lots of weak teams/good teams with injured players missing in a row on the schedule.

Nets have lost 10 in a row.

Everything is so packed up at the top. So a few good games or bad games can swing a team in the standings.

[r0drig0lac]

They very well could have the best defense in the association with the addition of White.
Don't think they are quite contenders but wouldn't want to play them in a series that's for sure.

raptors or heat imo

[gabri3l3]

how do they got better? white is a very marginal upgrade over j-rich & schroeder, and they lost both of them + langford losing a lot of depth in the process. he's not the scorer schroeder is and while a good defender he's comparable to j-rich in that regard
adding to that white is also a very meh shooter so a backcourt of him and smart is gonna kill any room to operate for the jays and you have to also to count for a 3rd non shooter in the lineup (rob williams)

[oldncreaky]

The east is very weird. Teams go up and down in standings quickly especially with lots of weak teams/good teams with injured players missing in a row on the schedule.

Nets have lost 10 in a row.

Everything is so packed up at the top. So a few good games or bad games can swing a team in the standings.

Yeah, a lot of EC teams are fragile -- the wrong injury could send any team in the EC spiralling, and with 5 games between 1st and 7th, playoff seeding won't be determined until game 82.

I do think the Boston surge is more real than not. I also really like the addition of White, which gives them a very good 8-man playoff rotation without any easy targets on D, which will make them a tough play-off out.

[Castle Black]

how do they got better? white is a very marginal upgrade over j-rich & schroeder, and they lost both of them + langford losing a lot of depth in the process. he's not the scorer schroeder is and while a good defender he's comparable to j-rich in that regard
adding to that white is also a very meh shooter so a backcourt of him and smart is gonna kill any room to operate for the jays and you have to also to count for a 3rd non shooter in the lineup (rob williams)

White is a considerable upgrade to J-Rich on both ends of the court. He’s also a playmaker with the ball in his hands who takes pressure off their two stars to score every trip down the floor, something they desperately needed. Langford wasn’t doing anything for them this year anyways. White’s shooting will likely improve now that’s he’s on a better team and will be getting better looks. If you add up his 3P% the past 4 years, it averages out to 35%, which is about the league average. AND he’s locked up for the next 3 1/2 years on a really friendly contract.

[r0drig0lac]

how do they got better? white is a very marginal upgrade over j-rich & schroeder, and they lost both of them + langford losing a lot of depth in the process. he's not the scorer schroeder is and while a good defender he's comparable to j-rich in that regard
adding to that white is also a very meh shooter so a backcourt of him and smart is gonna kill any room to operate for the jays and you have to also to count for a 3rd non shooter in the lineup (rob williams)

in addition to being clearly a better basketball player than both, he is also a better player who understands his role and is a better fit for both star wings.

[Bobbymcgee]

https://www.celticsblog.com/2022/2/11/22929311/sorry-folks-derrick-white-trade-disaster-josh-richardson-jayson-tatum-jaylen-brown-romeo-langford

[Elnegron]

good team. i still dont think they have enough to beat miami, milwaukee, brooklyn and 76ers. what the celtics are lacking is a true pg. you have lowry or cp3 in that line up and there is no doubt in my mind the reach the finals or can win it all. celtics need to limit the 1 on 1 basketball stuff out of tatum. i think they got better than the bulls and can at least push to 6 games to any of the top 4 teams mentioned. if kyie cant play home games or simmons doesnt fix his brain then celtics take nets spots. they match up well with my heat in terms of perimeter defense but lack the size for embiid and giannis. miami match up well with all other teams including vs giannis. it will be a bloodbath in the east becazuse even toronto loos great

[Triple M]

They very well could have the best defense in the association with the addition of White.
Don't think they are quite contenders but wouldn't want to play them in a series that's for sure.

raptors or heat imo

genuinely wonder why you think so???

because i thought the Cavs were more of the consensus better defense, The Celtics have turned it up a notch but were among the elite all season too

[rate_]

Spoiler:

They very well could have the best defense in the association with the addition of White.
Don't think they are quite contenders but wouldn't want to play them in a series that's for sure.

raptors or heat imo

genuinely wonder why you think so???

because i thought the Cavs were more of the consensus better defense, The Celtics have turned it up a notch but were among the elite all season too

Heat best defenders (Jimmy, Bam, Oladipo, etc.) )have been injured significant portion of the season. I think the Heat at full strength are definitely TOP 3 at worst.

[stormi]

I still don't love the fit of Tatum/Brown and think they'll really hit their contention state when Brown is traded for a star that can two man game with Tatum, but they're not a chump team by any means. Will be a tough out for anyone come playoffs except probably Milwaukee.

[bisme37]

I was going HAM on Udoka a month or so ago but since then he's really gotten it together. Or maybe the team has gotten better at doing what he wants. Or probably both. In any case, instead of regretting all the mean things I said I'm choosing to congratulate myself for motivating him haha.

[Ballerhogger]

They finally got a decent pg in white . Definetly trending upwards . I see them finishing 4-6.

[Bad-Thoma]

Someone needs to explain what happened with Marcus Smart. He was quickly becoming an afterthought and now he's low key their most important player again. Celtics are a different team when Smart is engaged like this.

Marcus is the kind of player that's kind of a waste on a bad team and is a fantastic piece for a good team and the beginning of year the C's were inarguably a bad team. New coach, really inconsistent line-ups due to injuries, etc. and it took a while to get everyone on the same page. Now that the team is actually playing team ball Marcus can shine, he's a mediocre one-on-one offensive player but great team offensive player if that makes sense and the whole team is defensively better as the rotations became crisper, etc.

[celtxman]

Teams win chips (or don't) based on their top players....Either they have it or they don't.

Tatum is a #2 option player on a championship team.

So it's nice that they are playing well but the recent Celtics teams are a very good treadmill team. They need a super star to take them over the top.

Nice and condescending aren't we? Where was Curry at 23 like Tatum is....or even 24? Obviously Curry has gone on to great things. So I guess Tatum has peaked at 23

[poultryfan]

They're on fire. January especially was amazing month for them.

Currently 4.35 SRS/+4.8 net rating which ranks 6th/7th in the league. Really impressive considering they were hovering around 1-2 SRS in the beginning of the season.

[celtxman]

They're on fire. January especially was amazing month for them.

Currently 4.35 SRS/+4.8 net rating which ranks 6th/7th in the league. Really impressive considering they were hovering around 1-2 SRS in the beginning of the season.

The schedule was favorable and other teams were missing players, but yet they have definitely playing better. The last Nuggets game they would have lost earlier in the season

[Madhouse]

They pass the eye test right now. Dangerous team.

[Floody100]

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