Jones & Keefe: Are the Celtics primed to go back-to-back?
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00:00Here's the real story to me.
00:02The Celtics should still win the East going away.
00:04Like I think the Knicks got a little worse.
00:06I don't believe in Philly.
00:08I don't believe in Milwaukee.
00:10Yeah, Cleveland's an interesting team.
00:11Indy was was competitive last year.
00:14They should still win the East going away.
00:16And even though these teams got better than a year ago in the
00:19case of the Bridges trade for New York.
00:21I think New York and Philly both got a little bit better, but
00:23there's a gap there.
00:24Well, but again, New York got better than last year based on
00:27the Bridges trade, but I think they've gotten worse in the
00:29last couple of days based on the Towns trade, my opinion.
00:32But don't you think, okay, but don't you think just from last
00:35year's team, and I know they were hurt at the end, but just
00:38Bridges and Towns over Randall and DiVincenzo, like,
00:43I think they're better, right?
00:43Yeah.
00:44Okay.
00:44Okay.
00:44So you at least give them that.
00:45But I would rather have Bridges and Randall than Bridges and
00:47Towns, I guess is what I'm saying.
00:48But they won 50 games last year and they were the number two
00:50seed in the East, right?
00:51There's no real excuse for the Celtics.
00:53It's all about them.
00:54It's all about them.
00:55Is Jalen Brown hungry?
00:56Is Tatum?
00:56I know everybody says they are.
00:57Let's actually see if they are.
00:59Do they take a step back?
01:00Because defending title teams don't win the last five years
01:03in the NBA.
01:04Does the sale get in the way for the Celtics?
01:06Does Porzingis factor into it in any way?
01:08His health?
01:10Those are the questions.
01:10It's not about New York.
01:11It's not about Philly or Cleveland or Indy or anybody else.
01:14Milwaukee, the East is still wide open and it's still there
01:17for the taking for the Celtics.
01:17Yeah, I think this is the year that they break that streak
01:20the NBA does with the back-to-back champions.
01:23I think this is the best version of the Celtics.
01:25Last year was the first year.
01:27The Celtics have been knocking on the door for a while, but
01:29last year was the first year with Holiday and Porzingis.
01:32So I think they're the best team.
01:34And if you also look at the previous five, I think they're
01:36the best suited to win back-to-back, you know, Denver.
01:39So I thought Denver was at least going to get back last year
01:42and they didn't.
01:42So that's sort of like a surprise.
01:44But the other ones are, you know, Kawhi Leonard on the Raptors,
01:47LeBron in the bubble, Durant with the Warriors.
01:50Like there's sort of more obvious or Curry.
01:52I mean with the Warriors where they really weren't a great
01:55team anymore.
01:56That was sort of their last gas.
01:57Yeah, but no, this is their prime to win back-to-back.