Opinion: What Eastern Conference team is the biggest threat to the Boston Celtics

Heading into the NBA playoffs, the Boston Celtics are the favorites to come out of the Eastern Conference, as well as the second most likely team to win the Finals behind the Oklahoma City Thunder.

Looking to repeat as NBA champions, the Celtics have looked virtually unbeatable all season, losing back-to-back games just twice all season. Having only lost three postseason games during the entire 2024 postseason, this trend should bode well for Boston.

Looking around the rest of the East, there are two teams that can feasibly pose as threats to the Celtics. One team should be fairly obvious, while the other can absolutely be a wild card.

Threat #1: Cleveland Cavaliers

Finishing the season with a 64-18 record, the Cavs survived a late-season push by Boston to secure the top seed in the East. This seeding ensures home court advantage in Cleveland throughout the entirety of the Eastern Conference playoffs.

The Celtics and Cavaliers split their four game season series, with both teams winning a home and away game. Out of all four games, Cleveland outscored Boston by just one point, almost as evenly matched as a series can be.

These teams met in the second round of the playoffs last season, with Boston winning the series in five games. While Cleveland now has that year of playoff experience under their belts, the Celtics now have championship pedigree behind them.

Going position by position, the Cavs don’t have a great positional advantage over the Celtics.

Their leading scorer, Donovan Mitchell, can be defended by Jaylen Brown, one of Boston’s premier two-way players. Boston’s depth also allows them to guard Evan Mobley and Jarrett Allen with any combination of Jayson Tatum, Al Horford, Kristaps Porzingis and Luke Kornet.

The Cavaliers and Celtics have two of the deepest rosters in the league, so in a seven game series, it will likely come down to who’s stars can make more plays, which firmly plays into the hands of Tatum, Brown and the Celtics.

Threat #2: Milwaukee Bucks

Out of every playoff team in the NBA, the Bucks may be the biggest wild card team of them all.

At a 48-34 record, the Bucks come into the playoffs as a five-seed. Like Cleveland, they would not potentially match up with Boston until the Eastern Conference Finals.

With the recent injury diagnosis to Damian Lillard, Milwaukee’s second leading scorer, it will absolutely be an uphill battle for the Bucks to be competitive in the playoffs.

Thankfully for the Bucks, they have a man completely capable of carrying this team: Giannis Antetokounmpo.

Giannis is quietly having one of the best seasons in his career, averaging 30.4 points, 11.9 rebounds, 6.5 assists with just under a steal and just over a block per game.

As he exhibited in 2021, Antetokounmpo can have dominant playoff runs. He averaged 30.2 points and 12.8 rebounds in 21 playoff games, including a 35.2 PPG finals series.

At the same time, it wouldn’t be fair to say that this Bucks team is the same as their championship squad. Without Lillard, Milwaukee’s next leading scorer is mid-season acquisition Kyle Kuzma, a far cry from an elite second option.

The Bucks play their first round series against the Indiana Pacers, the team that bounced them from the postseason last season. Giannis was injured for nearly the entire series, so they will likely give Indiana a much tougher test.

With the unknown timetable of Lillard’s injury, it’s tough to definitively conclude how Milwaukee's playoff run will go. However, if Giannis can play “Superman” as he’s been able to before, they can certainly pose a threat to the Boston Celtics.

Brendan Kern is a first-year majoring in broadcast journalism. To contact him, email bwk5372@psu.edu.