Early All-Star Voting Results Leave No Doubt About Celtics as Best Team in the NBA

The NBA All-Star Game is one of the most popular sporting events in the world. After all, it offers a chance to see basketball's top players playing with and against each other, revealing just who is really the best of the best.

Speaking of the best, the Boston Celtics have been the team to beat this season, sitting atop the NBA standings with a 26-7 record as of Jan. 4. While you don't have to convince Celtics fans that their team is No. 1, Boston's status as the best squad in basketball was further solidified on Thursday when the early All-Star voting results were revealed.

Celtics News: Early All-Star Voting Results

Celtics fans will be thrilled to learn that the team's entire starting lineup is among the top 10 players at their respective positions when it comes to early Eastern Conference votes. When it comes to the frontcourt, Jayson Tatum ranks third (1,765,919 votes) while Jaylen Brown (426,589) and Kristaps Porzingis (197,234) rank fifth and eighth, respectively.

As for the guards, Derrick White's 175,940 votes are good enough for eighth while Jrue Holiday isn't much further behind him in 10th (145,144).

For the most part, the quintet is accustomed to the ASG festivities. Tatum has played in each of the four previous All-Star games and will likely make it a fifth straight as he leads the Celtics in both points (27.0) and rebounds (8.5) this season.

Holiday and Brown have also made two appearances apiece. The latter is currently averaging 22.7 points, 5.1 rebounds, and 3.6 assists while Holiday is also doing a bit of everything, highlighted by his 12.9 PTS/6.5 REB/4.8 AST stat line while shooting 41.9% from the three-point line.

If Porizingis is successful, it'll be his first NBA All-Star game since 2018 — his only instance of doing so. He's been terrific in his first season in Beantown, averaging 20.6 points and 7.3 rebounds with a career-high 65.8% true shooting.

Of the starting lineup, White is the only one who's yet to be an All-Star but don't count him out just yet. The 29-year-old veteran is averaging career highs in points (17.0), assists (5.3), steals (1.2), threes made (2.8), and three-point percentage (42.2%) and has support from not only Boston fans but from the San Antonio Spurs faithful, too.

If Celtics want to ensure that the starting lineup makes the 2024 All-Star Game, they must vote early and often. Voting closes on Saturday, Jan. 20 at 11:59 p.m. ET, just under a month before the game itself takes place at Gainbridge Fieldhouse in Indianapolis, IN, on Sunday, Feb. 18.

But beyond the All-Star festivities, it looks like the Celtics are on their way to proving that they're the league's best team in another way. After all, Boston is currently BetMGM's favorite to win the NBA Finals for the first time since 2008.

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