With the Philadelphia 76ers, Miami Heat, and Indiana Pacers playing good basketball in the East, a case can be made that the Conference is more wide-open than it’s been since LeBron joined the Lakers in 2018. But if you ask former star big man DeMarcus Cousins, the East belongs to the Celtics and he doesn’t see anybody topping them in the NBA right now.
“The Celtics team is so well put together, I just don’t really see any team getting past them,” said Cousins. “And I think at a certain point the Sixers will run out of firepower. I could be wrong, but my gut is telling me they’ll run out of firepower, especially during the playoffs when schemes start getting into play and adjustments are made on the defensive end.”
The Sixers have climbed to the top of the Eastern Conference in the first 10 games.
Do they have enough gas in the tank to clinch the top seed?
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It’s still far too early in the season to make any definitive conclusions, but the Celtics have beaten the Sixers multiple times in the past. Most recently, when they met in the 2023 playoffs, it was the Celtics who once again came out on top after storming back from down 3-2 in the series. But after making a series of trades this summer, the Celtics got exponentially better in the offseason, and many still believe they are the team to beat this season.
Celtics Are Elite
With Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown, the Celtics have arguably the best duo in basketball. Capable on both ends of the floor, Tatum and Brown have carried the Celtics for years and they’ve had some pretty impressive runs together — including four trips to the Conference Finals and an NBA Finals appearance in 2022. A few months ago, the Celtics added sharpshooting big man Kristaps Porzingis to the roster to stretch the floor and act as an additional scoring option behind the “big two.” When Boston then acquired veteran two-way point guard Jrue Holiday weeks later, it was enough for many fans to rank the Cs as the best team in the East.
So far, with a record of 8-2 through 10 games, the Celtics are on pace to finish as one of the best teams in the league but it remains to be seen if they can match their regular-season dominance in the postseason. As always, success for the Celtics relies on Jayson Tatum and they will only go as far as he takes them. In 2023, now is the time for Tatum to prove himself as one of the top three players in the game.
76ers Are The Underdogs
Also, with an 8-2 record, the Philadelphia 76ers are currently tied with the Boston Celtics for the number one seed in the East. As the biggest story of the league so far, the Sixers have shocked fans and experts alike with their dominant play in the wake of James Harden’s departure. Thanks to a breakout campaign from Tyrese Maxey, the Sixers look better than ever and Joel Embiid appears to finally have a co-star he can rock with.
The real question for the Sixers will be about health. The team, and specifically Embiid, have had a long history of troubling injuries and it’s been some time since they were able to compete at full strength for the length of an entire season. But even at their best, the 76ers might not have enough to move past the new-look Celtics. Either way, the two teams are on a collision course in the East and it will be the matchup to watch in the 2024 postseason.
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