Looks like the Celtics aren't the best team in the East anymore.
Most fans would wait till we fell into second place, didn't have the best defense, weren't leading the conference in point differential etc, but by all means, hot take away!
Its not at all unreasonable to believe the Celtics arent the best team in the East, nor is it a hot take.
Cleveland is more talented than us and SHOULD be better than us. the hot take would be to believe that a 17 game win streak DID make us the best team in the East.
We arent as good as our 18-4 record says and when the inevitable slump comes and we lose a couple game we wont be as bad as the doomsday gang will say we are then either.
No, it's pretty unreasonable. Right now we're clearly the better team, and that's reflected in our better record on an essentially identical strength of schedule and more injuries to significant rotation players. Maybe that changes once IT comes back (given that Gordy is out; we're clearly better fully healthy), but it's unequivocally not the case right now.
People are exaggerating Cleveland's win streak, because they fail to realize that it's largely due to a soft schedule. In their 9 game win streak, they've played only 2 top 10 teams and 4 bottom 10 teams. Put another way, they've played 7 lottery teams and only 2 currently playoff-bound teams.
Hell, other than a few key games (such as Detroit and Philly), Cleveland hasn't looked all that good in their run. Their defense is still atrocious, and they still rely on Lebron playing major minutes at 33 years old to win games.
Which team has been better over the first quarter of the season? celtics by a mile.
Which team is actually better? the Cavs. They have Lebron. The Celtics dont.
Do they have the better team?
It's very bizarre to me that Celtics fan would be in a rush to call another team the better team when ever measure you could use says the Celtics are a better team.
How is it rushing?
I dont get this. We have been better than them so far, but thats unlikely to continue. Are the Pistons better than them too?
Last year, according to most metrics we were right there with Cleveland. In reality, we werent they were way better.
With Hayward Im all aboard, but without hayward, our talent level just isnt that high. Im not gonna overreact to a fast start. Is Houston better than Golden State? is Philly better than Washington and Milwaukee? I dont think so. I dont think a Leonardless Spurs team is actually the 3rd best team in the West.
Remember, last year our differentials with Cleveland were very close and we had more wins then them. But guess what? Cleveland was a lot better. When they wanted to crush us, they crushed us. Thus far weve been quite lucky in winning close games and with our opponents missing shots they typically make. This wont continue. Unless, of course, you think we are gonna win ~67 games.