Maybe the Celtics are contenders

Making judgments based off one game is rash. Deciding a team’s fate off four quarters of basketball could probably lead to a hot take. That’s not good. Oh well.

If Wednesday night’s Boston Celtics game doesn’t have you viewing the team a little bit differently than you had before, then you probably need to rethink a whole lot of things. If you didn’t hear, they beat the Cleveland Cavaliers, 103-99. I’m not gonna recap the game here — because that’d be a waste of time — but it was certainly a teaching moment for Celtics nation.

The Celtics are only three games back from the Cavs in the NBA East standings. That’s not too bad. Either Cleveland isn’t as strong as some people might’ve thought this season or the Celtics are even better. Maybe it’s both.

Here’s an obvious statement: this team’s offense revolves around Isaiah Thomas. He shot well against Cleveland, scored 31 points, and the Celtics won. But when he shot like dog doodie against the Atlanta Hawks, they lost.  That’s no coincidence either. There’s a reason for it.

To make things better for the Celts, Kevin Durant is hurt. He could be out for weeks, or months. No one is quite sure yet. In theory, that weakens the Western Conference, right? That has to mean the Celtics chances are a little better now.

At this point, staying healthy will be huge for the Celtics, and they kind of need to hope the Cavaliers aren’t so healthy. Who knows? Maybe LeBron hits up a raw bar and gets a little sick for a couple days or something like that because no one should be eating raw fish period.

Seriously though, if they’re capable of beating Cleveland, it makes you rethink things a little bit. Especially when they’re a team on the rise.

Back to blog