The Boston Celtics will end the season with the best record in the NBA.
The team posted a 135-100 victory over the Oklahoma City Thunder on Wednesday, improving their record to 60-16 and clinching the top overall seed in the NBA Playoffs.
The next closest teams to the Celtics in the standings are the Minnesota Timberwolves and Denver Nuggets, who are tied for first in the Western Conference with a record of 53 wins and 24 losses.
As with many wins this season, the Celtics spent much of the game with the outcome in doubt, as the Thunder were without their top two scorers, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and Jaylen Williams. I was saved. The loss drops OKC to third place in the West Division, one game behind the Timberwolves and Nuggets with six games remaining.
Meanwhile, the Celtics' top three scorers all scored over 20 points. Kristaps Porzingis had 27 rebounds and 12 rebounds, Jayson Tatum had 24 rebounds and Jaylen Brown had 23 rebounds.
brown After the game, he praised the achievement of 60 wins.:
“It's an honor and a blessing to be on a team that has 60 wins. Especially after coming up short last season, it's been a lot of hard work to respond, come back, and take that step forward. 60 wins. I think we're progressing well, but when the playoffs start, we're back to square one.”
It's true that the Celtics weren't as good as last season, going 57-25 in the regular season before losing to the Miami Heat in seven games in the Eastern Conference Finals.
Boston responded with a significant trade. They sent former Defensive Player of the Year and franchise mainstay Marcus Smart out, and in exchange for Porzingis, they offered a dynamic two-way big man alongside Tatum and Brown.
The Celtics then traded away Robert Williams III and Malcolm Brogdon and acquired Jrue Holiday, who led the Milwaukee Bucks to a title two years ago.
This overhaul went very well during the regular season, but the important test is clearly still ahead. We don't know what will happen in the NBA playoffs, but we do know that the Celtics are at least as good as any other team going into the postseason.
