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The Boston Celtics are both the defending NBA champions and the favorites to repeat. Everyone else is measuring themselves against Jayson Tatum, Jaylen Brown and the breadth of two-way talent in Boston, especially the Eastern Conference, whose best challenger fell 14 games shy of them in the regular season.
Nobody pushed the Celtics beyond five games in a playoff series. Theirs was a dominant postseason run.
It was also a fortunate one, paved by injuries to stars in New York, Milwaukee, Philadelphia, Indiana, Cleveland and Miami. Even at full strength, every team in the East recognized it had a canyon to close on Boston. Some of them tried to narrow the divide. Others failed. Let us power rank who came closest…
The Heat’s inclusion on this list is a courtesy to their culture. On talent alone they do not belong here.
Bam Adebayo is tremendous. He signed a three-year, $165.4 million maximum extension this summer, and he is worth it. He might be the NBA’s best defender. He adds 20 points a night and passes as well as any big not named Nikola Jokić. He is also the only player on the roster who does not end in a question mark.
The Celtics and Heat represent the past two Eastern Conference champions. (Photo by Brian Babineau/NBAE via Getty Images)
Jimmy Butler is great, too. He did not receive his max extension this summer and some bitterness could linger as a result. He has not played more than 65 games in a season since the 2016-17 campaign, missing the Heat’s entire first-round playoff loss to Boston, and he turns 35 years old in September. To count on him to carry them to a third NBA Finals in five years is a prayer. Otherwise he would have his contract.
Miami’s roster is not as strong as it once was. After losing Max Strus and Gabe Vincent to free agency last summer, the Heat watched Caleb Martin leave for the Philadelphia 76ers. Martin, you might recall, was instrumental in Miami’s victory against Boston in 2023, nearly winning conference finals MVP honors. The loss of his 10 points per game may not seem like much, but the collective loss of that core has to be felt.
In their place are Jaime Jaquez and Nikola…
Source link : https://sports.yahoo.com/power-ranking-bostons-biggest-threats-in-the-nbas-eastern-conference-142306208.html
Author : Yahoo Sports
Publish date : 2024-07-18 14:23:06
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