Former Boston Celtics starting center Kendrick Perkins, who helped Boston win the 2008 title alongside future Hall of Famers Kevin Garnett, Paul Pierce and Ray Allen, believes his old team can claim a record-extending 19th championship this summer.
Now led by perpetual All-Stars Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown, the Celtics are riding high following a 64-win 2023-24 season that ended in a title. The 2024-25 iteration, which has brought back all of Boston's rotation pieces from last year, is looking like a serious contender ahead of this spring's playoffs, too.
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At 47-18 on the season, Boston is currently the second seed in the Eastern Conference, and looks primed for another deep postseason run.
Perkins also predicted the club the Celtics would beat in this year's NBA Finals. The Celtics took down All-NBA guard Luka Doncic's Dallas Mavericks in five games. Now, Doncic is turning heads on the 40-23 Los Angeles Lakers, after a stunning midseason trade upended the hierarchy in the Western Conference.
Still, Perkins believes that the West's No. 1 seed, the 53-12 Oklahoma City Thunder, will ultimately emerge out of the conference — ahead of Doncic's Lakers and reigning MVP center Nikola Jokic's Denver Nuggets.
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"I picked OKC in December to represent the Western Conference, I picked them in January, February, and I'm picking them in March to go to the Finals," Perkins recently opined on ESPN's NBA Countdown. "I'm picking the Boston Celtics to win the NBA championship, it’s levels to this.”
On Tuesday night, missing All-NBA superstar power forward Jayson Tatum, starting center Kristaps Porzingis, and Porzingis' normal backup Al Horford, Boston managed to eke out a 114-108 victory against the lowly Utah Jazz.
Four-time All-Star small forward Jaylen Brown scored 26 points on 8-of-20 shooting from the field and 10-of-11 shooting from the charity stripe, pulled down eight rebounds, dished out seven dimes, swiped three steals and blocked a shot. Bench forward Sam Hauser, starting for Tatum, led Boston with 33 points on 11-of-23 shooting from the floor (9-of-19 from long range) and 2-of-2 shooting from the foul line. All-Defensive Team guard Derrick White chipped in an 18-point, 10-assist double-double.
As the likely No. 2 seed, Boston will face off against a No. 7 seed — who will be determined in a pre-playoffs play-in tournament. The current seventh seed, the 31-34 Atlanta Hawks, would face off against he current eighth seed, the 30-36, Orlando Magic, if the playoffs started today. The winner of the 7-8 play-in matchup would earn the No. 7 seed and advance to a matchup with the No. 2 seed, while the loser would play the winner of the play-in clash between the Nos. 9 and 10 seeds.
