Before the new NBA season tips off tonight, the Boston Celtics will celebrate last season — championship banner No. 18 will get hoisted to the rafters and NBA Commissioner Adam Silver will hand each player their championship rings.
Can anyone stop the Celtics from having another ceremony just like this a year from now?
Boston enters the new season as heavy favorites to repeat, they are +325 to win another title at our partner Bet MGM (the Thunder are second at +500). That’s with good reason, the Celtics are a championship team at its peak, one bringing back the top seven players from its rotation (once Kristaps Porzingis returns around Christmas). The Celtics won the East by 14 games a season ago and lost just three games in the playoffs, who is going to stop them this time around?
How many NBA titles do the Celtics have?
The 2023 title was Boston’s 18th, the most in NBA history (they moved one ahead of their rivals, the Lakers, who have 17, and in third place is the Golden State Warriors with 7).
Teams that stop the Celtics back-to-back titles:
Oklahoma City Thunder
Oklahoma City is not only the favorite to come out of the West — meaning it would have a shot in the Finals to knock Boston off — but the Thunder have a roster that could be a matchup challenge for Boston.
Oklahoma City has the MVP-level star that nobody can completely stop in Shai Gilgeous-Alexander. The Thunder also have a number of quality defensive wings to throw at Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown, starting with Alex Caruso and Luguentz Dort. They have Chet Holmgren and Isaiah Hartenstein protecting the paint. Most importantly, they don’t have a weak defender in their starting five and key rotation players — there is not some easy target to pick on.
Boston has the experience factor, but OKC will be a problem for everyone all season long — and they will be a problem for Boston if they meet in the NBA Finals.
Philadelphia 76ers
While this season in Philly may be starting with an ominous health omen, the potential is still there.
If the 76ers can get Joel Embiid and Paul George to April and the start of the playoffs rested and healthy — we’re going to assume Tyrese Maxey will be just fine — then this team has the best, most balanced top three in the league. They are surrounded by solid role players including Caleb Martin, Kelly Oubre Jr., Eric Gordon, Andre Drummond and more.
On paper, the 76ers can compete with anyone. Whether they can live up to that potential is another question, but they are a threat to the Celtics in the East.
New York Knicks
This is a roster not only built to push Boston for the top seed in the East — the Knicks were the No. 2 seed a year ago and will be closer to Boston than 14 games this time around — but they also are built to be a playoff matchup problem for the Celtics.
The Knicks have quality defensive wings in OG Anunoby, Mikal Bridges and Josh Hart who can match up with Tatum and Brown. Having Karl-Anthony Towns to space the floor at the five — and a five-out offense — will pull Kristaps Porzingis out of the paint as a rim-protecting defender. The Knicks will be gritty and physical like any Tom Thibodeau team.
New York has questions to answer (starting with depth concerns), but it is a legitimate challenger to Boston.
Boston Celtics
The reality is the team most likely to keep the Celtics from another title is the Celtics themselves.
That most likely would come from injuries beyond their control — Kristaps Porzingis is already out until around Christmas, recovering from foot/ankle surgery. Like any team, injuries to a key player or two heading into the postseason could make Boston look mortal.
While it’s not likely with this group, Boston could have a championship malaise during the regular season, leading to bad habits. It’s not Joe Mazzulla’s intensity that will prevent this from happening (although it helps), but the USA Basketball snub/playing time issues this summer lit a fire under Brown and Tatum that few other championship teams have had as motivation. Still, the idea that the Celtics lose focus is not completely off the table, it’s happened to great teams and great players before.
I picked Boston to repeat as champions, but the road this season will be much rougher than a year ago — they will not win the East by 14 games and cruise through the postseason with three losses. This time around, the Celtics will be challenged and have to prove they are up to it.
