The Boston Celtics boast the NBA’s best record and are the betting favorites to win a title this season.
Recently, the Celtics have been close to a championship, only to fall short. That can’t, or shouldn’t, happen this season, said Charles Barkley tonight.
On Inside the NBA, Barkley said Boston has all the ingredients to finally break through this year.
“If they don’t win a championship this year it would be a total gag job because they’ve got everything,” Barkley said.
When host Ernie Johnson chimed in about the Celtics’ perceived bench weakness, Barkley had a response ready.
“Ernie, your rotation is going to shrink during the playoffs, so your bench is not as important as you think it is,” he said. “They’ve got everything. You’ve got Brown and Tatum, two of the 10 best players in the league probably. You’ve got a great leader in Jrue Holiday. You’ve got the best sixth man, even if he’s a starter. I’m talking about Porzingis…And then, you can throw Derrick White in there too. I would be shocked if the Celtics don’t win, because they’ve got it all.”
Boston entered tonight’s road showdown against the defending champion Denver Nuggets with a 48-13 record. That’s 5.5 games better than Minnesota and Oklahoma City, the two co-leaders in the West, and eight games ahead of Milwaukee, the second-place team in the East.
There are definitely a few teams who have a chance to beat Boston this spring, but not many.