Could the Celtics be experiencing one of the easiest runs to the Finals in NBA History? In the regular season, they were head and shoulders above the rest of the league with a 64-18 record. That’s seven more wins than the next best team and a whopping 14 more than the second best team in the East. It’s no surprise the Celtics would be heavy favorites to win the East once again, but I don’t think anyone expected it to be this easy.
Their playoff run started with a highly-anticipated rematch between the Miami Heat, but Miami had no chance without Jimmy Butler and Terry Rozier. Next up were the Cavs, a solid team that was missing Jarrett Allen, Donovan Mitchell, and Caris Levert at various points in the series. Now, they’ve taken a 3-0 lead against a young Pacers team that lost Haliburton in Game 3. This is isn’t me taking a shot at the Celtics. Injuries are a part of the game and you have to play whoever is in front of you. But for a team that was already this good, its unfortunate to see them have no real scares throughout the playoffs.
Do The Numbers Back it Up?
The Celtics haven’t faced a single 50-win team on their Eastern Conference playoff run. Here’s a look at their opponents regular season records:
- Round 1: Miami Heat (46-36)
- ECSF: Cavaliers (48-34)
- ECF: Indiana Pacers (47-35)
Factor in the injuries on top of the records, and these aren’t great teams. However, Boston’s opponents averaged about 47 wins in the regular season, only tied for the 19th-lowest opponent total among all 80 Finals teams since 1983-84.
Conclusion
This Finals run by the Celtics has certainly been easier than most, but maybe not the easiest ever. It was actually the Finals runs by the Los Angeles Lakers in the mid to late 1980s that consistently rank near the easiest. In 1987, the Lakers faced opponents with an average regular season win total of 39.3!
In conclusion, don’t think anyone can beat Boston in a seven game series. The team with the best chance to do it was already eliminated (Nuggets). The Timberwolves and Pacers are too inexperienced while the Mavs lack the supporting cast around Luka and Kyrie to go the distance. At the end of the day, nobody will really remember how easy Boston’s Finals run was 20 years from now. The Celtics are well deserving of a ring and have faced some adversity of their own following the injury to Porzingis. But if they fail to get it done this year, Boston will never hear the end of it, and this experiment with Jaylen Brown and Jayson Tatum will certainly be over.
Click Here for More Basketball Content
Listen to Our Podcast, Hoop Culture
Join the Fantom Sports Discord