For the first time in years, the Boston Celtics are the favorites to come out of the Eastern Conference and reach the NBA Finals.

As LeBron James left the Cleveland Cavaliers and swapped conferences, the East has now opened up for whoever is game enough to take the next step and realistically compete for a championship. For the past eight seasons it has been LeBron-led teams that have marked the Finals in their annual calendar, but all that is about to change as  the Celtics are primed and ready to regain the thrown.

It was an intriguing year for the Celtics last campaign, as stars Gordon Hayward and Kyrie Irving were hit with the injury bug. Hayward went down on opening night with a scary leg break, and Irving was having a fantastic season before being ruled out just before the playoffs.

Although these were unfortunate circumstances for the franchise and head coach Brad Stevens, it did significantly fast track the development of young studs Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown. Both players saw increased playing time, and were huge factors which saw the Celtics overachieve and reach the Eastern Conference Finals.

They are now looking to go one better this time around, and no one is more confident than Brown, as he sat down on Pull Up Podcast  and talked about his team’s chances of reaching the NBA’s biggest dance.

“We’re getting to the Finals, No question about it.”

“I know LeBron did have a stronghold on the East, but he barely got up out of there this year. Our mindset was he’s not beating us again.”

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Strong words from Brown, who averaged 14.5 points per game, 4.9 rebounds per game and 1.7 assists per contest shooting 46.5% from the field and 39.5% from downtown.

Brown will no doubt continue to improve alongside Stevens and company, and with Irving and Hayward on track for a training camp, the Celtics look truly scary heading into next campaign.

With their biggest obstacle moved and now playing in the Western Conference, it’s up to everyone else in the East to catch the Celtics now, and they’re going to have a tough time doing so.