Paul Pierce believes that the Celtics are only threatened by one team in the Eastern Conference.

Although the Boston Celtics lead the NBA rankings with a 45-12 record this year, Joe Mazzulla’s team needs to overcome a formidable Eastern Conference schedule to return to the NBA Finals.

However, according to Celtics star Paul Pierce, there is just one Eastern team that can seriously challenge Boston in the postseason.

In an interview with former professional basketball player Jason Crowe for his new program “The Truth Lounge,” Pierce talked about the Eastern Conference’s current contenders and how they compare to Boston.

Assessing the rest of the East, the case can be made that some of the top threats to the Celtics have been hampered.

The 76ers will be without their top player in Joel Embiid for an undetermined time while recovering from knee surgery, while the Bucks are 5-7 since Doc Rivers took over as head coach.

Miami currently sits in seventh place in the East with a 31-25 record, but regular-season totals have done little to tell the whole story about a stingy Heat squad — especially once the calendar flips to the playoffs.