The beginning of the NBA season is when hot takes and overreactions fly. But no matter how you look at it, it's impossible to deny the Boston Celtics' impressive start.
Through four games, the C's are a perfect 4-0, making them the only unbeaten team in the Eastern Conference. And to top it all off, the Celtics just put a historic beatdown on the Indiana Pacers on Wednesday night, winning 155-104.
While the Pacers were without their best player in Tyrese Haliburton, the Celtics put on an absolute clinic. They shot over 56% from the field, dropped 44 points in the first quarter, and posted their second-highest points total in franchise history.
After a colossal win like that, there's a lot of excitement around the Green Team. So, let's play into it with three overreactions from Boston's drubbing of the Indiana Pacers.
The Celtics found their starting five
Coming into the 2023-24 season, there was some debate about the Celtics' starting five. Would veteran center Al Horford, who's been a starter for the majority of his basketball career, really come off the bench?
Celtics head coach Joe Mazzulla did end up benching Horford, and it looks like a great decision so far. Jayson Tatum, Jaylen Brown, Kristaps Porzingis, Jrue Holiday, and Derrick White are a formidable group, and they completely torched the Pacers. But they're not just getting it done against Indiana, as this starting five has played 72 minutes together and posted an amazing 125.9 offensive rating.
Even though the new season is still in its infancy, it's looking like the Celtics have a starting rotation that they can utilize for the foreseeable future.
Jayson Tatum is making an early case for MVP
Winning MVP isn't the most important thing in Tatum's mind, yet that doesn't mean he doesn't have a strong case already.
The four-time All-Star is averaging a spectacular 29.8 points per game while shooting an efficient 56.3% from the field. He's also been a steady rebounder, notching 9.2 per outing on a team that has plenty of height.
Perhaps the best sign for Celtics fans is that Tatum has been scoring sustainably as well, with a lot of his points coming from drives and midrange shots rather than just deep triples and layups:
Furthermore, the C's haven't lost yet, and that is a huge factor when it comes to MVP voting. However, if the 25-year-old has any competition right now, it's probably because of Dallas Mavericks star Luka Doncic. The stellar Slovenian has helped his Mavs to a perfect 3-0 record and he's averaged an astounding 33.8 points per game in the process.
Tatum likely has the edge on defense, but the MVP race could very well include both of them as the season progresses.
Every starting Celtic could earn either All-NBA or All-Defensive honors this season
Is it too early to be talking about regular season awards? Yes, but it's within the realm of possibility that every starting Celtic receives some sort of league honors following the 2023-24 campaign.
Tatum and Brown being named to All-NBA teams makes sense, as they both just did it last season. Yet, Porzingis could potentially join them as well, as he's at a different position and having a nice start with 18.8 points, 1.5 blocks, and 7.2 rebounds per game.
On the defensive side of the ball, White and Holiday could both earn All-Defensive honors once again. Holiday is averaging 1.8 blocks per outing and White is putting up 1.3 steals and blocks per game. Those block statistics rank ahead of averages from bigs like Deandre Ayton, Jusuf Nurkic, Karl-Anthony Towns, and many others who are much taller than Holiday and White.
Regardless of all the award hype, a more important goal remains for the Celtics: raise banner No. 18. It's championship or bust for the C's this season, so they'll look to continue their momentum throughout the regular season and hopefully, beyond.
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