Kevin Garnett recently discussed his opinions regarding the Eastern Conference’s prospective playoff scenarios. With assurance, he predicted that his old team, the Celtics, would retain their championship in the upcoming campaign. But the NBA icon also mentioned a few more teams who he thinks have a chance to seriously challenge the defending champions.
A revitalized New York Knicks team is the biggest threat to the Celtics, according to Garnett on Ticket and The Truth with Paul Pierce. A redesigned 76ers roster could pose a threat to his previous team, he also noted. KG believed that a few other teams had the ability to upset the 2024 winners in addition to these two.
Kevin said,
“It goes to Cs [Boston Celtics], it goes to [New York] Knicks, and then I’m saying Philly [Philadelphia 76ers] and then you got Orlando [Magic], Cleveland [Cavaliers], and Miami [Heat] right there.”
Kevin Garnett’s claims challenged by Paul Pierce
This audacious claim surprised Pierce. ‘The Truth’ didn’t refute his fellow panelist’s assertions explicitly, but he didn’t appear to be fully on board either. This led Garnett to quickly validate his ideas by researching the 76ers in more detail. He thought the team had enough talent to compete with the Celtics on an equal footing.
For background, they already had a youthful Tyrese Maxey on their team, who finished the previous season with the 15th-highest point total in the NBA (1816), and an MVP-caliber Joel Embiid. The addition of Paul George, a catch-and-shoot scorer with a lifetime shooting percentage of 38.5% from outside the arc, provided much-needed energy. The franchise benefited from the complimentary skill levels of this big three, as KG added:
“I think Philly’s effort and those three guys they got over there [can match up with the Celtics]. ‘Cause Maxey can get you 50. [Joel] Embiid, he is an MVP and then you got Paul George who is premier. That’s gonna get you something.”
Garnett then focused on the Knicks, who posed the greatest threat to the Celtics. Under Jalen Brunson’s direction, the team started to click. The 27-year-old took them to the postseason the last two seasons while their benevolent leader, Julius Randle, was out.
Josh Hart and Donte DiVincenzo, Brunson’s former Villanova Wildcats teammates, also stepped up to take the lead when it was needed during the previous tournament. Mikal Bridges, another Villanova alum, was added to this group this summer. Thus, KG talked about how the defending champions would have trouble keeping up with this impressive team depth, saying:
“The Knicks deep, dawg… I think the Knicks have the depth to be able to challenge the Cs.”
This presents a fair picture of the competitiveness in the East. Expectantly, fans can’t wait to find out who wins, setting the stage for what promises to be a thrilling start to the season in less than two months.
