Celtics training camp has officially started and the Banner 18 buzz has been huge around Celtics' fans.
For most Celtics fans like me we expect the Celtics to win a title every year but realistically we know that's not going to happen. This year the competition for the coveted "Larry O'Brien" Trophy is more heated than ever. By my count there are at least 6 teams with a legitimate shot at winning it all(Miami,LAL,OKC,San Antonio and Boston) and then you have about 3-4 other teams who could actually beat those teams. I'm going to quickly run through the potential finals/playoff matchups and see if Boston can hang with them.
Boston vs Miami: An ECF rematch pitting arguably the two best teams in the east. Now lasts years matchup was full of "what ifs" and injuries. Hopefully when/if these two teams meet up in the playoffs both are fully healthy. Over the last two years these two teams have played each other 18 times resulting in probably the most heated rivalry we have in this league and to make it even worse the Heat signed former "Big 3" member Ray Allen making the rivalry even bigger. The Celtics are the best equipped team in the Eastern Conference to knock off the defending champs. Danny reloaded a bench that was 2nd to last in bench scoring last year and now it seems they have the potential to be top 10 at the least. Courtney Lee and Jeff Green would be leaned on heavily this potential series to try to slow down both Wade and Lebron. Now obviously there is no way you can really slow down Lebron as he showed us this past year but Paul Pierce has proved that he can go toe to toe with Lebron. Chris Bosh and Ray Allen could potentially be the X-Factors for this team. We saw how easy it is to beat the Heat when you only have to worry about Lebron and Wade but with Chris Bosh on the court it opens up the court and helps them run their offense to perfection. Ray will definitely help this team but it remains to be seen whether Ray will get accustomed to his new rule coming off the bench but all he has to do is move without the ball and knock down open shots. Now it will obviously be a very daunting task but I think the Celtics can still hang with and beat the trio down in South Beach
Boston vs Lakers: The most successful franchises in Basketball potentially facing off in the Finals could prove to be the exciting match up in all of sports. The Lakers were all over the headlines this past summer with their acquisitions of Steve Nash and Dwight Howard. Obviously those signings made fans screaming all over for another title. To be completely honest this would probably be one of the more easier match ups for the celtics. Other than Dwight Howard there is not one player match up I would be worried about if I were a Celtics fan. Kobe and Nash aren't the players they once were and it has definitely shown the past couple of years. Rondo and Bradley would definitely have the advantage defensively in my opinion because of their youth and athleticism. Dwight Howard obviously would be a huge problem defensively and on the boards but his free throw shooting makes him one of the biggest offensive liabilities in the NBA. LA did help their bench this offseason with the signing of former All Star Antawn Jamison but I still don't think that their bench can be on par with teams like OKC or San Antonio. In the end I honestly don't think the Lakers would pose that much of a threat to the Celtics. With the age of their backcourt they couldn't keep up with the speed and athleticism of the Celtics.
Boston vs San Antonio: Now this is a finals match up I would love to see and one I thought might be possible last year. Now many people will bring up the Spurs age and I used to be one of those people. As long as Greg Popovich is the head coach this team will compete for a title. Greg Popovich was able to change this team from a defensive minded team to an offensive juggernaut seamlessly. I just can't keep this team out of this post because of him. Tony Parker had an MVP like season last year and really opened everyones' eyes(pun intended). This might be a very interesting matchup becasue of guys like Kwahi Leonard. Kwahi is a very interesting player because his game has changed so much from college to the pros. When he came out of college I though he would be more of a slasher type forward but somehow Pop got him to be a very effective spot up 3pt shooter. We know what Duncan,Parker and Ginobli are giving the spurs but if the bench doesn't play well that team just does not function very well as we saw in the Western Conference finals last year. San Antonio commands a lot of respect from the rest of the league because of their previous success but in reality they're very easy to stop. Should Boston run into them in a potential finals match up I wouldn't expect San Antonio to give them much trouble.
Boston vs Oklahoma City: The defending Western Conference Champions pose a major threat to the rest of the league and the Celtics. The Thunder are hungry for a title and should the Celtics face them it would be a huge problem maybe even bigger than a match up with the Heat. The difference between the Thunder is that stopping their stars would be even harder than Miami. The way to stop Miami is simple in a sense, make them shoot jump shots. Now with the Thunder the problem is that they're stars love shooting jump shots. Kevin Durant is easily the worlds best scorer and can shoot it from anywhere,James Harden is a deadly spot up 3PT shooter and Russell Westbrook is almost automatic from mid-range. Not only can they hit jumpers but they can also take it to the hoop and finish at the rim. I think the Celtics would be at big disadvantage during this potential match up because of the scoring ability of OKC's stars. Right now even though I have OKC as the 2nd best team in the league I have them winning the championship next year.
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