This season, the Boston Celtics have been one of the more interesting teams in the NBA. They're one of the more intriguing teams since they weren't performing very well until the last month of the season.

When a franchise like the Boston Celtics struggles, it's understandable for its fans and the NBA media to be concerned.

During the first several months of the season, Boston did not accomplish what they needed to do, and as a result, they were only able to play .500 basketball. Nobody is thrilled when a Boston Celtics team performs at this level, but thankfully for them, they've been able to turn things around, and it appears like their season will continue in the direction that many of them hoped for.

It's difficult to say whether the Boston Celtics can keep playing the way they are for the rest of the season, but the reality is that this is what Boston should have been doing for the past year and a half. It appears that something finally happened to click for this team and the result has been a much better product on the court.

There are certainly still some doubts about the Boston Celtics and whether they can continue to play at this level, but with Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown as their two stars, there should be no reason for them to stop.

Let's take a look at if the Celtics are pretenders or contenders.

Winning an NBA title is never easy. As we have seen with the past 20 champions, every team is going to need something significant to go their way. Whether that is an unfortunate injury to someone, or having guys on the roster step up more than they ever have. There is a reason why winning a championship is so hard, and a reason why we have seen crazy upsets in the past. If a team is going to win a title, they’re going to need everyone on their roster to be playing the best basketball they possibly can, and even sometimes that isn’t enough to get the job done.

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Celtics pretenders or contenders

Contenders

2. They've been playing their best basketball of late

The Boston Celtics have been playing their best basketball of late, and everyone wants to play their best basketball at the end of the season, which Boston has done heading into the All-Star break. Obviously, taking a week off for the All-Star game could not be advantageous to them, especially because they have finally really begun to work things out, but it could be good for them to have a few days off and then return to doing the same things they were doing before the break.

The issue now for Boston is if they can maintain this level of performance for the remainder of the season and into the playoffs. They're peaking at the perfect time, which should assist this team if they can maintain this level of play when they return from the All-Star break.

1. Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown are elite scoring options

The Boston Celtics will be able to find success in the playoffs for a number of reasons, the most important of which being whether Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown can be the elite superstars that everyone knows and expects them to be. They are perhaps the best tandem in the NBA when they are both on their game, and can score about 75 points combined a night if they're both on their game.

There was never a time when one of them was playing poor basketball, but there were clearly some concerns about one of them being moved due to their inability to connect. Something has clearly worked for this Celtics squad and both Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown in recent weeks, as they have looked better than they have ever looked as a combination in their careers.

Pretenders

2. Do they have enough outside of their two stars? 

Although Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown will most likely be the determining factors in whether the Boston Celtics can achieve the sort of postseason success they desire, they will also need some other players to step up. The fact is that if a team is going to win an NBA title, their two stars, and everybody else on the court must play their best basketball. This will not be an easy task for Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown, as they will be up against other duos such as Giannis Antetokounmpo and Khris Middleton, as well as James Harden and Joel Embiid of the 76ers.

The issue now for Boston is whether they have enough talent to complete the task without those two playing elite basketball.

1. Is it likely for them to keep playing at this level?

The most important question for this Boston Celtics team in determining if they're contenders is whether they can continue to play at this level.

It's difficult to say at this point whether they can maintain the hot streak that they had going into the All-Star break, given that they haven't done so in over a year and a half, but it would also be unfair to say that they can't, given that everyone knew the caliber of talent on this team and was just waiting for it to click.