Boston Celtics: 3 reasons this is still a team to fear in the playoffs

Despite their current struggles, the Boston Celtics have a number of factors in their favor that will make them a tough out in the playoffs.

Whereas most playoff-bound teams try to hit their strides as the regular season comes to a close, the Boston Celtics appear to be taking the road less traveled by, losing their last four games to fall two behind the Indiana Pacers for the fourth seed in the Eastern Conference.

We keep thinking the Cs will eventually put everything together in order to look like the championship-caliber team many had pegged them to be prior to the start of the 2018-19 regular season. It just hasn’t happened yet, creating a sense of doubt as the postseason nears.

Despite continuous struggles, there are still reasons for optimism in Boston. The team has maintained a relatively clean bill of health unlike last year and the Eastern Conference remains as open as ever, especially after the league-leading Milwaukee Bucks suffered a few key injuries of their own over the last two weeks.

The roster is still extremely talented with one of the better coaches across the league. The journey may be different than what had previously been expected of the reigning conference finalists, but to fully give up on the Celtics would be foolish given the potential that is still very much a reality within them. It’s only a matter of whether they can figure it out and unlock it.

Bearing all this in mind, here are three reasons the Celtics are still a team to fear come playoff time.