Saw this in another sub and wanted to share where the Celtics are being ranked right now
NBA-8th
Isaiah Thomas averaged 33.3 points last week, dropping a career-high 44 in Tuesday's overtime win in Memphis. Each of the Celtics' last six games has been within five points in the last five minutes, and they've won five of the six, shooting 50 percent from the field and 29-for-33 from the free throw line in the clutch. They blew a 13-point lead with less than five minutes to go in New York on Sunday, but Marcus Smart (the guy who has shot 26 percent from 3-point range over the last two seasons) hit the game-winning three and Avery Bradley took the ball from Carmelo Anthony. The Celtics played two fewer home games (12) than any other team in the East and are now home for 15 of their next 20 games, with only five one-game road trips between now and Feb. 8.
NBCsports-9th
Winners of five-of-six, including holding off the Knicks on Christmas Day, the Celtics look like a team coming together. Most underrated streak going right now: Isaiah Thomas 15 straight 20-point games. As trade rumors start to heat up you know Boston — with a lot of young players and picks — is going to come up, but with no superstars looking to be moved at the deadline don’t be surprised if they stand pat. Interesting games this week vs. Cleveland and Memphis.
ESPN-7th
The Celtics' league-best run of 230 consecutive games without surrendering a triple-double was just brought to a halt by Russell Westbrook, leaving Memphis with the longest such active streak at 172 games. Most of the news here these days, though, is deceptively encouraging for Boston, which sports a record of 12-4 when it can dress its Isaiah Thomas/Avery Bradley/Jae Crowder/Al Horford/Amir Johnson starting lineup. The Celts are also an East-leading plus-6 when you subtract home losses from their total of road victories, suggesting that their third-in-the-East record is actually a little better than it looks.
Bleacher Report-6th
I've long contended "rock, paper, scissors" is a skill game. It's like poker that way; you're reading the opponent, not submitting to some silly one-in-three toss-up. It's about peeling back layers of deceit, peering into your foe's eyes, seeing him thinking about scissors and knowing it's a trick. It's about sensing deeply—innately—that he is, in the deepest recesses of his duplicitous heart, a paper man. I take this very seriously. That's why I have no issue with Avery Bradley and Jae Crowder's using this test of mental acuity to decide who would take a technical free throw in the Boston Celtics' 105-95 win over the Heat on Sunday. Really, Avery? Rock? You fool. Crowder had you beaten before you even thought to ball your fist. The Celtics got 44 points from Isaiah Thomas to beat the Grizzlies in overtime Tuesday, and they're on a four-game winning streak, which is pretty simple to explain. Boston is finally healthy, defending and leaning on Thomas to close. When the Celtics' ideal first unit (Thomas, Bradley, Crowder, Amir Johnson and Al Horford) has been fit enough to start, they're 11-3. On D, they're fifth in efficiency since Dec. 1.
CBSsports-7th
Some really good wins the past two weeks for Boston, which needed some gains vs. the better teams in the league. They lost to the Thunder, because Westbrook dropped a 45-point triple-double. With games vs. Memphis and Cleveland this week, a real chance to put themselves on the map as the East contender we talked about in preseason.
The Celtics are beginning to pull it together a little bit, it seems. They looked fairly good in beating the Knicks on Christmas, making it five of six wins and underscoring some improved consistency. Isaiah Thomas has strung together 15 straight 20-point games (the longest active such streak) and they’re 14–5 against the Eastern Conference, where simply being competent is going to get you into the playoffs this year. They don’t belong in a tier with the Cavs or Raptors, but the C’s have managed a top-10 offensive efficiency on the season. They own a top-10 defense in the month of December and maintain the league’s second-best assist rate and third-best turnover rate, underscoring the type of contributions necessary for Boston to keep overachieving. This is not a starry or flashy roster, and they’ve been predictably bad on the glass, but as they’ve gotten healthier, the performances have trended upward. They might need a superstar to win a title, but not to keep winning this way. You’ll hear Boston's name and its cache of draft picks and movable assets in trade rumors again, but at this point, staying the course is also defensible. Part of me thinks they’re better off angling for a big free agent again rather than searching for the perfect deal, and those Nets lottery picks are obviously enticing. They’ve got a hard-nosed (if not crazily dynamic) backcourt, skilled bigs, and one of the game’s most talked-about young coaches in Brad Stevens. It’s unspectacular, but gets the job done just fine. Sometimes, patience is the hardest thing.
Submitted December 27, 2016 at 04:38PM by kpp34