After Wednesday’s victory over the San Antonio Spurs, the Boston Celtics are now officially halfway through the 2023-24 NBA season. Currently sitting at 32-9, the Celtics are four games ahead of the Milwaukee Bucks for the No. 1 seed in the Eastern Conference. Furthermore, the Celtics own the best record in the NBA by 2.5 games ahead of the 30-11 Minnesota Timberwolves. As it is, Boston is playing some of their best basketball in years and is in a prime position to raise another banner. With the NBA trade deadline and All-Star break approaching, what are some stories to follow for the Boston Celtics? Could the team bring in other players for an NBA Finals push? And what are some position battles to watch out for?
Boston Celtics: 3 Second-Half Stories to Follow
The Celtics and the NBA Trade Deadline
This year’s trade deadline is February 8, eight days before All-Star Weekend. Despite the Celtics currently owning the best record in the NBA, they may still be in the trade market. Recently, GM Brad Stevens said he is looking for a “big wing” ahead of the deadline. However, the Celtics have very little financial flexibility and a lack of “trade resources” to make a big splash. Even so, Stevens has a $6.2 million TPE from the Grant Williams sign-and-trade. A few NBA players are floating around in rumors which may intrigue the Celtics, and it should be interesting to see if Stevens makes a deal for any of them.
Backup Center Battle
The battle between Luke Kornet and Neemias Queta has been interesting this season. As it stands, Kornet has gotten more of an opportunity this season than Queta has. So far, Kornet has appeared in 28 games, 13 more than Queta. Plus, Kornet has started two games, while Queta has not started any. Statistically, the two big men are comparable. Kornet averages 4.9 points, 3.6 rebounds, and 1.0 blocks over 14.8 minutes per game. Queta averages 4.9 points, 4.9 rebounds, and 0.5 blocks over 13.5 minutes per game.
"The strength of the team is regardless of who's out, we play at a certain level."
Luke Kornet and Neemias Queta were among those who stepped up against the Spurs and their rookie phenom Wednesday night, helping to push our home record to 20-0.https://t.co/UT8BHMuG9l
— Boston Celtics (@celtics) January 18, 2024
With Queta on a two-way contract, he’ll likely play spotty minutes unless his contract gets converted to a standard one. Both players have their own strengths and weaknesses, but they’ve each played enough good basketball for a spot in the Celtics’ rotation behind Kristaps Porzingis and Al Horford. This is a notable position battle that could determine who gets playoff minutes. For now, it will be worth keeping an eye on what head coach Joe Mazzulla has planned for the two centers.
How Far Can This Dominance Go?
The Celtics are playing amazing basketball and look like a clear top-three team in the NBA. Boston is on pace to win 64 games this season, the most since their 2007-08 NBA championship season. It looks like nobody in the NBA can stop the Celtics’ players right now. It’s not a stretch to say this is the best version of the Celtics since the 2008 championship team. In fact, depending on how they finish the next 41+ games, this team could go down in NBA history.
Celtics this season:
2nd in ORTG
2nd in DRTG
1st in NETRTGCurrently have the highest net rating by a team since the 2017 Warriors. pic.twitter.com/dWWOG7Yp7w
— StatMuse (@statmuse) January 18, 2024
The first half of the season went as well as Celtics fans could have asked for. Only time will tell if the second half of the season can bring the same type of success in the hunt for championship banner No. 18.
