For a long time now, the perception around the NBA is that the West is the more superior conference over the East. However, Boston Celtics guard Jaylen Brown has some words to say about those who continue to push that narrative.
Per Chris Forsberg of NBC Sports Boston, Brown believes the Eastern Conference is just as good, especially with six really good teams at the top.
Jaylen Brown: "The East is good. People always make light of the East. I think the East is really good. Especially like the top six or seven teams are really strong. So nothing is given."
— Chris Forsberg (@ChrisForsberg_) December 29, 2019
Jaylen Brown certainly has a point, especially this season. Both the East and the West are on par with each other record-wise, as the top six teams in each conference have, at most, just 12 losses each.
The Milwaukee Bucks sit atop the conference and throughout the entire league with a 29-5 record. The Celtics are not far below at 22-8 and are just one game behind the surprise team of the season so far, the Miami Heat.
Moreover, the Philadelphia 76ers have the most stacked starting unit on paper, while the Indiana Pacers are thriving even without All-Star guard Victor Oladipo.
The fact that we just ran through the elite teams in the East and still haven't mentioned the defending champion Toronto Raptors, who currently sit at fourth, is a testament to how tough the conference has become.
The East is definitely stacked with all the aforementioned teams gunning for a chance to be the conference's representative in the NBA Finals in June 2020.
Brown and the Celtics have also exceeded expectations so far this 2019-20 season.
Several analysts and experts expected the Celtics to take a step back after they lost Kyrie Irving and Al Horford in the 2019 offseason, even though they added All-Star Kemba Walker as their Kyrie replacement.
Boston has been playing splendid basketball so far this season under head coach Brad Stevens. As evidenced by their top-five offense and top-six defense with the third best net rating in the league, the Celtics have re-established themselves as legitimate contenders for the title.
Brown, individually, is having himself a breakout campaign in his fourth NBA season. Through the first 26 games of the season, the 23-year old swing man is putting up career-highs across the board with 20.7 points, 7.0 rebounds and 2.4 assists while shooting at an extremely efficient 52.1 percent from the field, 39.9 percent from three and 75.2 percent from the charity stripe.
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