Will Boston go back-to-back?

Boston's last season was a dream come true. They finally connected the dots and finished the job for the Larry O’Brien Trophy. In recent years, they have been to multiple Conference championships and multiple early playoff exits, and two seasons ago, they made the finals but lost. Last year they decided to go for it all for whatever cost while keeping the main duo together. They traded away a Celtic veteran Marcus Smart for 7-footer Kristaps Porzingis after trading for Jrue Holiday who is better on both sides of the ball with experience when the Milwaukee Bucs gave him away for Damian Lillard. During the championship run in a 64-win regular season, they ran through the playoffs losing only three games all the way through. The trades they made boosted them in the regular season and playoffs taking them from a championship contender to a championship winner. Holiday’s ability on defense was able to provide stability for the star Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown especially when it came to crunch time while they did their thing on offense.

Photo Credit: Los Angeles Times

            The real question is can they do it again with some trades going down on the East side? This offseason teams like the 76 Sixers, Knicks, and the Bucks made some moves or are coming back from injury ready for battle. In recent times and maybe for a while the East has been known as the weaker conference but with some of these moves over the past year the East has started to become just as competitive with the top seeds as the West. Some big trades to the Eastern Conference happened this offseason and some signings. One big signing was Paul George, a 6x All-NBA and 9x All-Star teaming up with recent MVP Joel Embiid and Tyrese Maxey. A big trade that happened recently was Karl Anthony Towns to the Knicks for Donte DiVincenzo and Julius Randle and getting a big man for the Knicks was a big part of why they struggled last postseason. The teams that stayed the same were the Pacers and the Bucks, but both struggled with injuries late and couldn’t play together greatly to get past the better team. The Pacers played through an injured Bucks, and an overplayed Knicks team and found themselves in front of the Celtics without their star Tyrese Haliburton.

Photo Credit: The Ringer

There are other competitors such as the Cavs and Heat who have had matchups in the past, but none are as big as the Sixers, Bucks, and Knicks who have put together great squads. A healthy Bucks team would seem to give them problems with a 2x MVP, and a DPOY in Giannis and Damian Lillard along with Brook Lopez, and Khris Middleton. The Sixers would give them problems as well if matched up with Embiid, Maxey, and now George based on matchups having to cover and get through each of them on both sides of the ball. The Knicks with the new team and if they can stay healthy and not overused would be a great match-up with a starting lineup of Brunson, Hart, Mikal, OG, and KAT against Jrue, White, Tatum, Brown, and Horford would be a tough couple of games to get through.

This year will be harsher than last but with the Celtic's skill dynamic, team lineup, and championship aspirations they have the most reasons out of any other team in the league to go back-to-back.