Playoff Picture: Boston Celtics
By Luke Duffy
Why They’ll Win It All
Look, this is a team that won’t win a championship this year. In fact, they’d be an afterthought in the brutal Western Conference. But you can only play what’s in front of you, and so the Celtics deserve to be where they are. One area they’ll have joy is having Stevens on their side. He’s quietly gone about his business in Boston, but he’s creating something there.
Jason Kidd may get more of the plaudits for guiding his Milwaukee Bucks team to the playoffs playing some excellent basketball, but Stevens has done almost as much in leading his less talent bunch of players this far. They’re a slightly above average defensive team, and a slightly below average offensive team. They have the highest scoring bench in the entire league (Mostly because of Thomas) and that will be a weapon against teams with less productive benches.
Marcus Smart looks a great pick by this team. The rookie point guard is already a determined defender who makes his matchup work for their points every night. Scoring buzzer-beaters himself will give him that bit of confidence. He’s far from a complete offensive weapon, but he’s getting there.
Jae Crowder is important to this team, while Evan Turner is slowly, and unspectacularly, rebuilding the reputation that made him a second overall pick there. Kelly Olynyk is a tough competitor and will fight all day in the paint. Look out for Jared Sullinger to have a coming out party of sorts in the postseason. He’s been steadily on the rise for a while now, and the playoffs are the perfect time to break out.
Next: Team Merely Average In A Lot Of Areas