Call it what you want but if you think this team is “finally what we expected” you’d be way off. The premise of us being great was built around us having multiple stars. We have one. Kyrie is carrying us. We only go as far as our single star takes us. Typically teams with a single star are up and down.
Al Horford still has a star level impact, for my money. He's vitally important to what the Celtics do on both sides of the court.
I'd rather have Al Horford than Andre Drummond, just for example.
Actually, I'm not sure there's a big man in the East other than Joel Embiid that I'd rather than Al Horford.
I expect Horford's minutes and scoring will go up in the playoffs again, as well.
Hayward and Brown are clearly a good piece away from being the star type players we hoped they could / would be.
Tatum would probably be considered a star if he took more shots. So far he hasn't figured out how to make a consistent impact while functioning as the second or third offensive option most of the time.
I think the storm may have passed, in terms of the team being really up and down because they are figuring out what the identity of the team is.
Kyrie has asserted himself as the unquestioned superstar on the team that has no other players nearing that level.
My question -- is it already too late?
It's hard to believe that the teams ahead of the Celts in the standings are going to fall off in their pace the rest of the way. The East is so weak toward the bottom that the top teams are going to continue to pad their records.
If the Celts end up with the 5th seed, can they win a playoff series without home court advantage?
I think if their opponent is Philadelphia, as it would be if the season ended today, the Celts would be in trouble.
They match up well with Philadelphia, but the Celts are a much worse team on the road and Philly has a much better crunch time lineup this year than last.