The New York Knicks are seen as potentially the best team in the East, but the Boston Celtics handed them an L on Tuesday night, which has people talking. The victory wasn’t just a fluke, either, as the Celts have beaten the other supposed “cream” teams of the East in recent days: the Cleveland Cavaliers and the Detroit Pistons.
This got popular Yahoo’s NBA analyst Kevin O’Connor posting to X on Tuesday evening following Boston’s 123-117 victory over Jalen Brunson and the Knickerbockers.
“The Celtics are legitimately good,” O’Connor declared. “They will be obvious Finals contenders when Jayson Tatum returns. Maybe even East favorites.”
When O’Connor speaks, basketball fans listen, so it’ll be fascinating to see how those fans react to KOC’s Celtics statement in the hours to come. Fans within the Celtics universe weren’t surprised by Tuesday’s result. They’ve watched a team compete with the best the Eastern Conference has to offer so far this season, despite diminished expectations without Tatum. As Celtics insider Marc D’Amico pointed out, Boston has already beaten four of the East’s top six seeds (currently).
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While it’s still careless to assume a successful Tatum return is happening in 2025-26, it’s also impossible not to see the oft-updated workout footage from JT and not think about the possibility.
What’s this Celtics team going to look like with Tatum added to it? While Boston’s frontcourt depth remains iffy, there’s something to be said about the growth of guys like Jordan Walsh, and, frankly, even proven commodities like Payton Pritchard and Jaylen Brown, who have leveled up out of necessity in Tatum’s absence.
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All of the growth from Boston’s non-Tatum players is going to make the Celts a stronger unit once he comes back. It’s one of the few benefits of JT’s injury, but it’s a big one.
