The Boston Celtics are projected by a panel at ESPN to win the Eastern Conference in the 2022-23 regular season according to a new projection, narrowly beating out the Milwaukee Bucks for home court advantage throughout the postseason.
The Celtics and Bucks were both seen as having a 54-28 record next season, with Boston winning the tie by percentage points. Behind them, in order, are the Miami Heat at 51-31, the Philadelphia 76ers at 50-32, the Toronto Raptors at 47-35, and the Atlanta Hawks at 46-36 to close out the teams who would not have to participate in the league’s play-in tournament in order to secure a postseason berth.
“The Celtics are now arguably the NBA’s deepest team and should have the ability to withstand the rigors of the 82-game season — particularly given stars Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown are only just beginning to enter their respective primes,” writes the panel.
The question of what the roster will look like by opening night aside in the analysis, we are inclined to agree that Boston will have a similar win total if other aspects in the East’s current order remain unchanged.
But, there is still much time for things to change with the Celtics and their opponents both.
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Story originally appeared on Celtics Wire