Sixers star says the Celtics are the team to beat in the East

The Boston Celtics seemed lost and out of sync during the first half of the season. Some were asking for Ime Udoka to be fired, and reports stated that they could even look to break up their young core.

Brad Stevens stood put and didn’t make any big moves ahead of the trade deadline. He was patient with Udoka and the team slowly started to buy in as well. Now, they seem nearly unbeatable.

The Celtics have demolished nearly every single championship contender over the past couple of months. That’s why Sixers veteran Danny Green believes they shouldn’t be overlooked come playoff time.

Danny Green Says Everyone Should Fear The Boston Celtics

“I think that’s a team that might be the sleeper that comes out or gets to the Eastern Conference Finals when people don’t expect them to because they’ve been hooping,” Green said, per NBC Sports. “They’ve been playing defense. Their offense has helped their defense because they’ve been playing a lot smoother, more together, which was interesting to me.”

Stephen A. Smith Says The Celtics Will Come Out Of The East

ESPN’s Stephen A. Smith seems to agree with Green on this. Recently, he said Udoka should be a top-2 COY candidate and predicted the Celtics could be the last team standing on the Eastern Conference:

“Udoka, what he has done, I can’t say enough,”Smith said.“This guy is legitimately a top 2 coach of the year candidate.This team, look at them defensively. They’re like a bunch of piranhas. They switch everywhere.You have 5 guys that get out on shooters better than anybody I’ve ever seen.”

“Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown have elevated their level of play,” Smith added.“I want to see it be more consistent because you weren’t that way at the beginning of the season and are flowing now in the last 30+ games, the playoffs are a different beast.”

“But when you come to the playoffs, the game slows down a little bit. You don’t get as many open-court opportunities, defenses are able to get back and set their defense right, we know this about playoff basketball.Nobody wants Boston to do that, because if Boston does that, it makes their defense even more formidable,“ the analyst concluded.

The Celtics have one of the most talented young duos in the league in Jaylen Brown and Jayson Tatum and it’s time they step up and make a deep run in the playoffs. Maybe, this will finally be their year.