On Monday evening, the Boston Celtics continued their winning ways with a narrow home win over the Phoenix Suns. The Celtics were led in this one by Jaylen Brown, who scored an efficient 41 points on the evening, while Jayson Tatum also continues to round into form amid his return from an Achilles tear.
Recently, ESPN NBA analyst and former Celtics big man Kendrick Perkins took to “First Take” to relay his thoughts on why Boston should be viewed as the favorites to come out of the Eastern Conference this year.
“The Boston Celtics are coming out of the Eastern Conference. … The way that Jayson Tatum has looked since returning from that Achilles injury… I'm looking at [them] and I'm saying this duo right here is proven,” said Perkins, per @lockedupjb on X, formerly Twitter.
Indeed, Tatum and Brown have a plethora of playoff experience, of both the positive and negative variety, on their resumes, capped off by their championship run in the 2024 season, in which Brown won the NBA Finals MVP honors.
Meanwhile, Tatum isn't quite looking like the full version of himself just yet, as should be expected after nearly a year off as he recovered from Achilles surgery, but Celtics fans still have to be encouraged by how much he's progressed from where he started just over a week ago against the Dallas Mavericks.
The Eastern Conference, despite its reputation, is deep with talent this year, and Boston will have some challengers on its hands, including the Detroit Pistons and the team that beat them last year, the New York Knicks.
However, if Boston doesn't suffer through one of its infamous playoff meltdowns this year, the team clearly has the talent to compete with anyone, not only in the Eastern Conference, but the NBA as a whole.
