BOSTON — The Boston Celtics are, by far, the best team in the NBA. Or so we believe.
With a 48-14 record, the team holds a 7.5-game lead over the second-seeded Bucks in the East and 4.5 games clear of the Timberwolves for the NBA’s best record. They’re 29-3 at home and have an average point differential of 10.9, which is 3.3 points higher than the second-place Thunder. They are the odds-on favorite to win the title this year. In most cases, the Celtics are the best.
That is, until it comes time to compete with the other great NBA clubs. That’s where the Celtics get into problems, which happened again Thursday night in Denver.
The Celtics lost the lead at the end of the first quarter and never recovered, being outscored 60-52 in the middle two quarters and unable to make a comeback in the fourth. Jaylen Brown had 41 points and 14 rebounds but missed seven free throws, Jayson Tatum was 5-for-13 from the field (including a missed corner three in the closing minute of regulation that would have given Boston the lead), and Kristaps Porzingis went 9-for-23. Nikola Jokic, on the other hand, finished with 32 points, 12 rebounds, and 11 assists for a triple-double. Aaron Gordon scored 16 points, the largest two coming on an alley-oop with 20 seconds left in the fourth quarter to give Denver a two possession lead.
The Celtics suffered their second straight loss, 115-109, following their collapse in Cleveland on Tuesday. It won’t affect the Celtics much, if at all, in their pursuit of the top spot. But there is this: The Celtics are now 1-6 since January 1 against teams with a winning percentage of.600 or better.
Expanding the timeframe to include the entire season does not materially improve Boston’s situation.
Other than the Celtics, six teams have a winning % higher than.600: Minnesota (.698), Oklahoma City (.694), Denver (.683), the Los Angeles Clippers (.656), Milwaukee (.651), and Cleveland (.645). The Celtics are 1-1 vs. the Timberwolves (both games went to overtime), 0-1 vs. the Thunder, 0-2 vs. the Nuggets, 1-1 against the Bucks and Clippers, and 2-1 vs. the Cavs, for a total record of 5-7 versus the NBA’s top clubs.
The Celtics have had little issue with the next level of competition, going 8-1 against teams with winning percentages between.575 and.600. Given the overall record, the Celtics have had a bit more trouble with the higher class.
And, while it’s natural for a team to have a worse record versus the greatest teams than the rest of the league, a championship-driven squad having a losing record against those teams is definitely a red flag.
The Celtics will get a chance to play a solid club twice, first in Phoenix on Saturday and then in Boston the following week. They still have two games left with the Bucks and one more against the Thunder. Those games will not technically have extra weight. However, given that the postseason is all that matters for this squad this season, the Celtics may benefit by treating those games with greater weight, given the challenges that await them in May and June.
