Is this team, as is, a real title contender this year? [Poll]

[gift]

Not a favorite, but a contender.

[Moranis]

It seems like people aren't answering the actual question in the poll

"Do the Celtics have a realistic chance to win it all this year?"

That is even different than the title of the thread.  There also isn't clarity on what realistic actually means either. 

Answering the actual question though, I think the answer is no.  I don't think Boston will realistically beat not only Milwaukee but also whoever comes out of the West (LA, LA, or Houston).  Boston certainly could win the title this year, but I don't consider it realistic given Boston won't be favored in at least 2 series barring some major upsets. 

[GreenFaith1819]

Absolutely - especially once we get Kemba back.

[Who]

Right now, I have the Clippers as the favourite to win it with Boston a close second. Lakers 3rd - quite a bit back on the other two but well ahead of the next tier. Those teams are my frontrunners.

Other teams that have an outside shot of being the Champ - Philly and Milwaukee in the East. Houston and Dallas in the West.

[Fafnir]

Yes absolutely.

The Bucks are so good though that every team other than them is a somewhat long shot. I think The Bucks title odds have to be somewhere north of 50%.

For example going by elo rating at 538 the Bucks are 48% to win Finals, Lakers are 14% to win finals, Raptors are 11% to win Finals, and Celtics are 9% to win Finals.

Celtics have been a top 4 team by regular season performance and have the top end talent to match up with anyone.

[Birdman]

I pick no because of no bench..if one of our 4 guys get in foul trouble or hurt, we are doom..plus I still think size matters in NBA..look at Bucks

[colincb]

Absolutely. Milwaukee's the biggest hurdle, then the  LAC, We're better than the Lakers.

There are no others who I consider in the conversation as far as a contender (i.e, 55+ wins+average margin > 4.5 points,+winning road record,+winning record against 500+ teams.} but TOR still scares me.

We also have 4 guys capable of 20+ on any night and a budding superstar. We can afford an injury to one of those more than LAL with only 2 stars and LAC with 3 stars if you include sweet Lou,

[PhoSita]

Definitely. Not a favorite, not one of the top three, but they are good enough to have a shot. They hit a lot of criteria that history suggests makes them a contender.

[ETNCeltics]

Sure we're a contender. It's not a reasonable proposition to say that we're not.

We're 41-17, on a pace to win 58 games, even though we've had our big 4 players available only a handful of games together.

There are only 13 teams with a winning record right now. If not for our struggles with Philly, we'd have the NBA's best record against those other 12 teams. We split with the 2 LA teams for our 4 games, and only 1 of those games, our beatdown of LAL, did we have all of our big 4.

MIL's a huge roadblock, and it's reasonable to think we won't be able to get past them. But to think we only have a puncher's chance isn't reasonable. If we're healthy, we have at least a decent chance against everyone, including MIL.

[Jvalin]

I believe we are a top 4 team in the league behind the Bucks, the Lakers and the Clips. Having said that, if the Raps have the home advantage, I'm not sure whether we'd be the favorites in that series. I'm not sure whether we'd be the favorites against the Sixers either. We matcup terribly against them.

[rondofan1255]

I voted No because Bucks. Of course, I hope the C's pull off the upset if they meet in the playoffs. It's possible, and I wouldn't count them out.

[celticsclay]

I believe we are a top 4 team in the league behind the Bucks, the Lakers and the Clips. Having said that, if the Raps have the home advantage, I'm not sure whether we'd be the favorites in that series. I'm not sure whether we'd be the favorites against the Sixers either. We matcup terribly against them.

I’m not sure Simmons plays again this season if that matters

[Walker Wiggle]

Not sure if I'm the only one who looks at this, but 538 has the Celtics with an 8% to WIN the championship this year:

https://projects.fivethirtyeight.com/2020-nba-predictions/

Those are the 6th-best odds. Bizarrely, the 76ers have a better chance (12%) and the Raptors and Nuggets have notably low probabilities (3%) despite similar regular season projections.

So yeah, they've got a chance. That's the definition of a contender.

How many teams in the league have two all-NBA caliber players, two more all-star level players, an all-NBA first team defender, and a top coach? It would be a disappointment if they weren't.

[mmmmm]

If you have a 'realistic chance' at reaching the Conference Finals, then you are a contender.

Because once you reach the Conference Finals, it becomes largely about health.   Pretty much every year, the healthiest of the last 4 teams wins the title.

I believe that the Celtics have a realistic chance to make the Conference Finals.

Like most here, I do not consider them favorites to win the title.   But they definitely _could_ win the title if they are completely healthy and they get a few breaks to go their way.   In other words -- just like how most title winners need things to go.

[td450]

I voted No because Bucks. Of course, I hope the C's pull off the upset if they meet in the playoffs. It's possible, and I wouldn't count them out.

The Bucks, C's, Toronto, Miami, Philly and Indiana are the serious teams in the East. Everyone except the C's depend heavily on quality players with size.

The C's are an outlier. If we contend, it will because there will be size mismatches, and we will have won them. This is why Tatum and Brown are so much more valuable than general perceptions, especially together. They will often cover bigs, and bigs will often have to cover them. Who wins? I'm starting to be confident that they will.

The big advantage we will have against the Bucks is that by the time we see them, we will have played and won against some big teams. The Bucks won't see anyone remotely like the C's. Hopefully they will struggle with that.