Boston Celtics chase second straight NBA title in play-off field led by OKC Thunder, Cleveland Cavaliers
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Jayson Tatum of the Boston Celtics fighting for the ball in a NBA regular-season game against the Charlotte Hornets on April 11.
PHOTO: AFP
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BOSTON – The Boston Celtics launch their bid for a National Basketball Association (NBA) title repeat in a play-off landscape altered by the emergence of the Cleveland Cavaliers and Oklahoma City Thunder, and the intriguing threat of the new-look Los Angeles Lakers.
The Celtics, virtually unchanged from the team that lifted the franchise’s record 18th title last season, completed the best regular season by defending champions since the 2015-16 Golden State Warriors, finishing second in the East with a 61-21 record – the NBA’s third best.
They led the NBA in three-pointers with nearly 18 per game and rolled into the play-offs winning 25 of their last 30 games.
But Boston insist they will be working from a clean slate when they open their post-season campaign against the Orlando Magic on April 20 (April 21, Singapore time).
“I’ve said it a lot – we’re not defending the championship,” star forward Jayson Tatum said. “We won last year. Can’t nobody take it from us.
“But last year is last season. That’s out the window. We’re not worried about anything besides the Magic right now.”
The Celtics are optimistic that last season’s NBA Finals Most Valuable Player (MVP) Jaylen Brown will be ready to go against Orlando, after receiving injections for a knee injury that sidelined him for the last three regular-season games.
“He actually looks good,” said teammate Kristaps Porzingis, who echoed Tatum’s view that the Celtics are starting from scratch as they try to become the first team since Golden State in 2017-18 to win back-to-back titles.
Boston have not been the strongest team, as the regular season was dominated by Cleveland and Oklahoma City.
The Thunder, also first in the Western Conference last year, compiled the best record in the league, amassing 68 victories compared to their 57 last season led by MVP candidate Shai Gilgeous-Alexander.
Coach Mark Daigneault’s Thunder are the youngest team in NBA history to secure the No. 1 seed.
Gilgeous-Alexander owns a league-best average of 32.7 points per game, while the team rank fourth in total offence and third in defence and their star man believes they can respond to any opponents.
Oklahoma City are up against Memphis in the first round of the play-offs after the Grizzlies defeated the Dallas Mavericks 120-106 in the play-in round on April 18.
“We have a ‘whatever it takes’ mentality,” Gilgeous-Alexander said.
“The goal is to win. However you get it done, it’s a step in the right direction.”
The Cavaliers, beaten by the Celtics in last year’s Eastern Conference semi-finals, roared back under new coach Kenny Atkinson – seizing control of the conference with a 15-game winning streak to open the season and claimed 64 victories in the end.
“We’re grittier than I thought in the beginning,” Atkinson said of a team anchored by guards Donovan Mitchell and Darius Garland.
“There’s the rhetoric that we’re skilled and move the ball and play good offence and that’s good – but we have a toughness about us.”
The Cavs will take on the Miami Heat, who advanced into the play-offs with a 123-114 victory over the Atlanta Hawks.
Meanwhile, the resurgent Lakers prepare to launch their first-round series against the Minnesota Timberwolves on April 19.
With first-year coach J.J. Redick at the helm and Slovenian star Luka Doncic providing all Los Angeles expected when they nabbed him in a stunning mid-season trade, the 40-year-old Lakers superstar LeBron James is again a title contender.
The Lakers won 50 games for the first time since they lifted the title in 2020. James, in the post-season for the 18th time, is chasing a fifth championship while Doncic seeks a first, a year after guiding the Mavericks to the Finals.
“We have guys who are willing to go to war,” Doncic said.
“Everybody is staying together. The chemistry is high. I think we, for sure, have a chance.”
Should they make it to the second round, James and the Lakers could be up against Stephen Curry and Golden State if the veteran Warriors can make it past a young and hungry Houston Rockets team that finished second in the West. AFP, REUTERS
