The Boston Celtics spent the entirety of the 2023-24 NBA season as the most dominant team in the league. They finished with an impressive 14-game lead in the Eastern Conference, which solidified the preseason notion that they’d be the team to beat this year.
And with how successful their playoff run has been thus far, they are planting themselves in the conversation with the best postseason performances of all time.
Boston Enjoying One Of The Best Playoff Runs In NBA History
THAT’S ONE ☝️#DifferentHere pic.twitter.com/0PLNoZMIjX
— Boston Celtics (@celtics) June 7, 2024
The Celtics lost one game in each of the first two rounds of the playoffs. They faced the Pacers in the Eastern Conference Finals after getting through the Heat and Cavaliers, and wound up sweeping Indiana to give them a 12-2 postseason record heading into their NBA Finals series against the Mavericks.
In winning Game 1 of the current series, the Celtics have pushed their postseason record to 13-2 and an .867 winning percentage. That mark gives them the 8th best winning clip in NBA postseason history, and the second best since 2001. The 2016-17 Golden State Warriors hold the mark for the best playoff run of all time, going 16-1 on their way to a championship.
Only A Sweep Would Keep Celtics In The Top-10
Jaylen Brown is the first Celtics player to have 20 PTS, 3 BLK and 3 STL in a playoff game since Kevin Garnett (2012) 🔥 pic.twitter.com/rontur7MzN
— SportsCenter (@SportsCenter) June 7, 2024
In order to enter the most rarefied of air when it comes to the list, Boston would have to complete a sweep of Dallas. Even one more loss would push them out of the top-10, and two losses would tie them with the Denver Nuggets of last season in 15th place. But should they pull off the highly unlikely feat of winning the next three games, they’d finish with a winning percentage of .888, which would be the 5th-best mark of all time.
The Celtics are a big favorite in Game 1, and the spread is even larger for the upcoming contest. Game 2 will be played again in Boston on Sunday evening, and the home team is now favored by 7.5 points. After winning in dominating fashion in the opening game, the Celtics are now listed at -400 to win the series.
