Paul Pierce outlines the Celtics’ biggest obstacles in the Eastern Conference in “Dang I Really Am Scared.”

Paul Pierce outlines the Celtics’ biggest obstacles in the Eastern Conference in “Dang I Really Am Scared.”

The competition has increased this year, and the Eastern Conference has been very deep over the past few seasons. For example, the eighth-seeded Miami Heat of the previous season upset the highly-favored Milwaukee Bucks in the opening round to go to the NBA Finals, where they defeated the Boston Celtics in an unusual series in the Eastern Conference Finals. Paul Pierce is concerned about the Boston Celtics’ chances of making the playoffs, even though they own the best record in the league, for just this reason.

It turns out that Pierce thinks the Miami Heat, who are ranked seventh, pose the biggest threat to the Celtics right now. The legendary player for the Celtics talked about the team’s chances of winning the East this year on the first edition of his All The Smoke Productions program, The Truth Lounge.

Former basketball player Jason Crowe joined him on the program and expressed the opinion that the Celtics are not the “true favorites” in the East. After learning this, Pierce questioned Crowe about the squad he thought could pose a real threat to Boston. Upon naming the Philadelphia 76ers, Crowe’s claim was not convincing to The Truth. The 46-year-old did, however, talk about the East team that he fears the most.

Miami is the only legitimate team you have. Paul Pierce said, “That’s the only team I be like, wow, I actually am terrified about, even though they are where they at [7th in East].

Crowe agreed with this assessment and mentioned that the club lead by Jimmy Butler has a reputation for turning things up in the postseason. The Truth found the fifth-seeded 76ers unthreatening and avoided the second-seeded Cavaliers, third-seeded Bucks, and fourth-seeded Knicks. Given that the Celtics are the league’s hottest team, his logic makes sense. They are pretty deep and have the best winning recipe this season with 45 wins and 12 defeats. For this reason, they have the support of their previous superstar to go on a successful run.

But there are certain dark horses in the East that the Celtics should be wary of. It’s possible that the Indiana Pacers will emerge from the playoffs as a sleeper team. Furthermore, it would be absurd to ignore.

Paul Pierce has faith in the Boston Celtics.
Jayson Tatum scored 35 points, dished out seven assists, and pulled down six rebounds in the Celtics’ 114-98 victory over the Knicks in November of last year, early in the season. Tatum’s outstanding performance won Pierce over as the best American player in the NBA. Tatum is an exceptional player, so The Truth’s faith in the Celtics is noteworthy. Kristaps Porzingis has made the Celtics even more potent up front. With two-way guys like Derrick White, Jaylen Brown, Jrue Holiday, and sharpshooter Payton Pritchard off the bench, they have a formidable guard depth. Pierce praised the depth of the Celtics in a December appearance on The Ticket and the Truth Pod with Kevin Garnett.

They seem to be playing with the edge right now. They think they can triumph in every situation. They believe they can win the game even when a player is out, such as when Tatum or Porzingis aren’t playing. When someone sits out, I don’t really notice a lot of drop off,” he said.

Pierce believes the Celtics have a good chance of reaching the third conference finals and maybe the second finals in the last three years. It is a huge advantage to have some of the top two-way players surrounding an ace like Tatum.