The trend of national NBA writers taking note of the 2021-22 NBA season‘s second-half transformation of the Boston Celtics from a team stuck on the treadmill of mediocrity to a legitimate contender continues to grow with every Celtics win.
Their top-rated defense has them beating teams at home and on the road by a serious margin, a clear sign historically of a dangerous playoff team capable of winning it all. And over at Sports Illustrated, staff writer Rohan Nadkarni is among the new believers in the Celtics’ smothering defensive capabilities, which he wrote on at length in a new article positioning Boston as his second-ranked Eastern Conference contender.
“Since Jan. 1 — as the big omicron COVID-19 variant wave that hit the NBA started to recede — the Celtics are first in defense (by a significant margin), eighth in offense and first in net rating,” begins Nadkarni.
Where will Boston be in the standings among their East peers come season’s end? Who should Boston want to face in the first round? In this episode, we dive deep into all things Celtics betwee… https://t.co/MKUXYnki2d
— The Celtics Wire (@TheCelticsWire) March 18, 2022