Golden State Warriors
With the Celtics escaping from the East as Eastern Conference Champions, they will come to face to face with none other than the MonStars themselves, the Golden State Warriors. Ask any NBA fan outside of the Bay Area who they want coming out of the West and you will hear all seven other teams in the conference a million times over. Though there will absolutely be moments in which their appears to be a glimmer of hope for the downfall of the Warriors dynasty, and there are definitely teams who will be able to give them a run for their money, there is no getting around the fact that they will be the victors out of the West.
That means that the Celtics will be going up against quite possibly one of the most talented starting lineups in the history of basketball. All five have been all-stars within the past two seasons and all five could (and in some cases have) be the first option for a team. They have quite possibly the best player in the world in former MVP Kevin Durant, another former MVP and beyond a shadow of a doubt the greatest shooter of all time in Steph Curry, the former best center in the league who has averaged 28 points and 13 rebounds within his career in DeMarcus Cousins, one of the only players in history who could give Curry a run for his money in a shoot-off and record holder for most points in a single quarter with 37 in Klay Thompson, and former Defensive Player of the Year and only player to ever record a triple double without points in Draymond Green. We are all gonna see Space Jam 2 a lot earlier than we thought if the Warriors do not complete the three-peat this season and another team walks away as champion.
Though the Celtics do not in fact have Michael Jordan (though it is not too late to ask him to come out of retirement for one last ride) we do have the ability to compete against this team at a high level, which we proved by splitting the season series with this team down the middle. I won’t even bother saying try to get Steph Curry or Kevin Durant out of rhythm because by all indications that is just impossible. Klay is a bit in the middle here as when he is hot, he is otherworldly, but when he’s off, he can airball three threes in a row, so that will all depend on which side of the bed Klay wakes up on that morning I suppose. With Cousins and Draymond though, there are weaknesses to exploit; Boogie will foul out in the first quarter if you get him angry enough, so our guys will just have to bring a little Marcus Smart onto the floor with them in his absence, and with Draymond, it’s as simple as just making him shoot.
If we can capitalize off that as well as utilize our extremely more talented bench unit, then we can give the Western Conference All-Stars a good series, and maybe, just maybe, find ourselves putting up our eighteenth banner as 2019 NBA champions.