The Celtics are no longer undefeated — we all knew it couldn't last forever. The Suns, Nuggets and Heat have all fallen from the unbeaten ranks as well. Every team is flawed — everyone's beatable. No one's got a zero in the loss column anymore, but there are still four teams left with just one loss: Boston, L.A. Lakers, Phoenix and Miami.
And the Celtics are still the best of them.
Take a look around the Internet, and you'll see that the basketball world is still undecided. Check out ESPN.com's power rankings, and you'll find the Celtics in first, ahead of last year's finalists from L.A. and Orlando. Turn to NBA.com, and you'll find that the Suns' impressive streak of road wins has vaulted them to No. 1 over the Celtics. For a dissenting opinion, try Bleacher Report, where the Lakers sit at the top with Kobe Bryant and the rest of the defending champions still going strong.
There's a lot of noise out there, but Boston is the NBA's best team. And here's why.
The reality is that this Celtics team is just getting started. At this very moment, the C's have the best record in the NBA at 7-1 — and that's in spite of everything they've had working against them so far this season.
They're doing this without Glen Davis. When the Celtics' third-year power forward broke his thumb in a preseason altercation two weeks ago, the Celtics' bench took a big hit. Unexpectedly, Doc Rivers had to make adjustments to his depth chart, putting a heavier burden on the aging Rasheed Wallace and demanding more from presumed bench player Shelden Williams. It's all worked out, and the C's are on top despite missing one of their best contributors off the bench.
They're doing it with a rigorous travel schedule. How many teams in the NBA can be expected to start off their regular season with eight games in 12 days? One, that's how many. Every NBA team has played six or seven games this season, except a Boston team that's managed eight. The C's had to travel from Philadelphia to Minneapolis in one night with no off day. They won both games. They began their season with a back-to-back, playing one night in Cleveland and the next in Boston. They won both of those, too.
They're doing it with a difficult schedule. There's no tougher opening night than on the road against Cleveland, where LeBron James simply refuses to let his team lose. There's no tougher run of opposing point guards than Chicago's Derrick Rose, New Orleans' Chris Paul, Phoenix's Steve Nash and New Jersey's Devin Harris. The Celtics already have four convincing wins over likely playoff teams — the Cavs, Bulls, Hornets and 76ers — and they might have had a fifth, if only tired legs didn't finally succumb to the run-and-gun Phoenix offense on Friday night.
But down the road, fatigue isn't going to be a serious problem. The hard part is over — the Celtics have waded through a hellish first two weeks of the regular season, and they did much more than just stay afloat. They are tied for the best record in the game.
If they can survive this, they can survive anything.
Over the coming weeks, expect the Celtics to pull away from the NBA. These C's are smart. They can pace themselves, they can grind out tough wins, and they can prepare for the long haul. They've got their eyes on the ultimate prize — being No. 1 in the end.
