On Thursday, the Boston Celtics will begin their NBA Finals series against the Dallas Mavericks. Joe Mazzulla’s team has dropped only two games during the playoffs and is undefeated on the road. Yet, certain sections of the media and NBA fan bases have questioned the legitimacy of their run. Every team the Celtics have faced during the playoffs has been dealing with injuries to their star players.
During a recent appearance on 98.5, The Sports Hub’s “Felger & Mazz,” Patrick Beverley explained why the Celtics’ run must still be respected despite an easier path than anybody anticipated.
“Not soft,” Beverley said. “Soft is a soft-a– word, so I’m not going to use soft. Do people kind of look at them and be like they haven’t been challenged this year? Yes. That comes with everything. You still can’t take anything away from them. Have they beaten some banged-up teams? Yes. Is it their fault? No. Have they been the most dominant team in the NBA? Yes. You can’t use soft because of their domination throughout the season and postseason.”
It might be cliche, but the truth is that you can only beat the opponent in front of you. The Celtics didn’t ask for Jimmy Butler to be hurt. Nor did they plan on Donovan Mitchell missing the final two games of their series against the Cleveland Cavaliers. Pacers star Tyrese Haliburton’s re-aggravated injury was a stroke of bad luck.
The Celtics still played their game, refused to fall into a false sense of security, and earned their way to a championship shot.
The Celtics will enter the Finals as the heavy favorites to win the 2024 NBA championship. They have the best roster and are the deeper team. No matter how easy their path was to this point, if they overcome Luka Doncic and Kyrie Irving, their run must be respected. There are no easy championships, especially not at the NBA level.
