NBA news: ‘Winning breeds confidence’, Boston Celtics title odds rise
Don’t look now, but the Boston Celtics, yes that same team that was underachieving the first half of the 2021-22 NBA season has the fifth highest odds of winning the NBA Championship this season, according to Basketball Reference.
Who would’ve thought it as it was just a couple of months ago that trade rumors that centered around breaking up the young duo of Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown dominated headlines as the team barely floated around the .500 mark.
After blowing leads and check marking embarrassing loss after embarrassing loss, the Celtics have turned around their season by simply buying into new head coach Ime Udoka and most importantly buying into one another.
Boston Celtics head coach Ime Udoka found the winning formula
But credit goes to Udoka for tightening the rotation, managing minutes, and finding the right combinations that has turned the Celtics into not only an Eastern Conference contender, but a team with a 9.5 percent chance to win the NBA Finals behind the Phoenix Suns, Golden State Warriors, Utah Jazz and Miami Heat, all teams the Celtics can certainly hang with and teams where that defensive presence will be tested.
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Basketball Reference has also projected the Celtics to win 48 games. Given how the Boston Celtics started the season, no one would’ve projected the team would have a chance at winning close to 50 games, let alone just 4.5 games out of the top spot in the Eastern Conference.
It really does come into the players buying in, which was Udoka’s biggest challenge coming into the season. Both Tatum and Brown have turned more into playmakers, Marcus Smart has taken less shots and ramped it up on defense, Robert Williams has transcended his game and old man Al Horford has found the fountain of youth. Along with minor tweaks to the roster like adding Derrick White and Daniel Theis at the NBA Trade Deadline, the Celtics are a team engaged and a team impressing even themselves.
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Most importantly, the Celtics are a team that did not panic during their days of underachievement and struggle.
"“We took our lumps early, especially with finishing games,” Udoka said, via NBA.com. “But the team has always responded well to being challenged. Even the games we were losing early on, I was always optimistic because the team never stopped fighting, never stopped playing the right way. We got better at finishing games and obviously, winning breeds confidence. We’re jelling together now, and we know the group we have going forward.”"
Going forward, the biggest challenge is sustaining their level of play. Although they have been the hottest team in the NBA since February, the team has a couple of losses to the Detroit Pistons and Indiana Pacers that serve as reminders that the team needs to remain focused and continue to play at a high intensity.
Another challenge is the injury to Jaylen Brown. While he is not expected to miss a lot of games, they do want to make sure he is not rushed back too soon. With players like White, Grant Williams and Payton Prichard stepping up, the Celtics should be fine going down the stretch, even without Brown.
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However, they will need him, along with Jayson Tatum playing at an MVP level to live up to those championship odds because teams like the Brooklyn Nets with a healthy Kevin Durant, Kyrie Irving and re-energized Ben Simmons, along with the Philadelphia 76ers led by the duo of Joel Embiid and James Harden will have a lot to say about who comes out of the Eastern Conference.