There are a few things to be concerned about, beginning with last week’s loss to Cleveland, where Boston let a 22-point lead in the fourth quarter slip away from a Cavaliers team without five-time All-Star Donovan Mitchell.
Less than a week had passed since their crushing defeat at the hands of the Los Angeles Clippers when they fell at home on February 1 to an inconsistent Los Angeles Lakers team that was missing both LeBron James and Anthony Davis.
While many consider the Boston Celtics to be the best team in the NBA, they still have some work to do if they’re going to win it all this summer.
They have suffered some troubling losses to teams they should’ve beaten, and they have lost two close games to the defending world champion Denver Nuggets this
They’re comfortably in first place in the Eastern Conference right now, and Shaquille O’Neal, a four-time champion, said on the “NBA on TNT” that they need to remain focused and improve their weaknesses in order to claim the Larry O’Brien Trophy.
“They just have to stay motivated… and focus on the mistakes they make… If they can focus on those two things, they will be the champions this year,” he said.
Moving forward, another concern is whether Jayson Tatum, their best player, will play up to his potential in big playoff games and get them over the hump.
So far in his career, he has failed to do so, such as when he scored just 14 points on 5-of-13 shooting in Game 7 of last year’s Eastern Conference Finals against the Miami Heat.
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