Just realized, the Knicks have lost two in a row also so now the C's are the 2 seed again.
Even with everything going on and a bit of a scuffle lately, the C's are still looking like a Tier 1 team in an open East. And then Tatum comes back.
The C's did also lose 2 in a row to the Spurs and Pacers, and nearly 3 until the comeback against Miami. Otherwise I would've had to fire up the tank train again seeing their slump.
But with the recent games have they finally peaked or can they still do more??
You add Tatum and a backup center at the trade deadline and this team to me is the favorite coming out of the East. Not to say it'll be reflected in the odds and standings, and they'll have to prove it. But DET has a little bit of an inexperience factor to me still which I think could affect them in a series with NY + BOS, and the Knicks are obviously talented but they've also looked iffy lately and KAT in particular has been maddeningly inconsistent. The C's choked last year's series but I'd welcome a rematch hopefully in May
Besides the obvious of choking away 20 point leads and dying by the 3, I also felt last year's team just had an ill Porzingis (clearly not in game shape) and Horford + Jrue were also older and looked slow on the court. This year's team has guys who can hustle, play defense and play fast. We've seen some of it too with someone like Hugo who makes so many plays not on the box score but it impacts the game, including the games against the Knicks.
We're a younger team and more faster and athletic because of it which should help.
When you think of last year?s team, do not forget JB was playing on a torn meniscus, that Jrue missed the last three games of the Orlando series, and that prior to the Achilles, Tatum was injured by that flagrant foul in the Magic series. The team that played the Knicks was not the same Celtics team that played the first 70ish games of the year.