Stephen A. Smith Believes This is the Most Dangerous Team in the East

The Eastern Conference seems like it is wide open for the taking. At the beginning of the season, it looked like East could be won by anyone. With Jayson Tatum and Tyrese Haliburton both expected to miss the majority of the season, it was time for a new team to take the Eastern Conference crown.

The Detroit Pistons, New York Knicks, and Cleveland Cavaliers all looked like great candidates to take the throne. Then, once the season actually got going it became clear that the Boston Celtics weren’t going to take this season off. They were still one of the best teams in the conference, despite not having their top player.

Stephen A. Smith recently went on his show and said that right now, the Celtics are actually the team to beat in the East right now. 

“I’m just looking at them right now and imagining if Jayson Tatum gets back to 100%. If Jaylen Brown continues to look this way, what are you going to do about the Boston Celtics? I’m just giving respect where it’s due and paying attention to it all.”

The Celtics are currently the second seed in the Eastern Conference and have won seven of their last ten games. While Tatum doesn’t look totally like his old self, he still is improving every game and looks to be gelling well with the team that has played the entire season without him.

The Celtics also have a championship pedigree. No other contending team in the conference has made an NBA Finals appearance recently. This means the Celtics will have a leg up on all of the competition when push comes to shove in April and May.