Getty Jaylen Brown, Jayson Tatum
A well-known Los Angeles Lakers alum has high expectations for the Boston Celtics coming into the 2023-24 season. The seven-time NBA champion explained on the “Big Shot Bob Podcast” why he believes the Celtics will be the favorites coming out of the Eastern Conference.
Horry singled out the additions of Kristaps Porzingis and Jrue Holiday for why the Celtics are his pick to come out of the East.
“If (Kristaps Porzingis) can buy into that system and stay healthy, I’m going with (Boston),” Horry said on October 10. “I think Boston is just tough because, with the addition of Jrue Holiday, that gives them some toughness. I know they had it with (Marcus) Smart, but this is a different type of toughness. It’s an offensive toughness and a defensive toughness rolled into one. And plus, Holiday will be like, ‘Man, f*** Milwaukee.’ He’s gonna go and get his.’”
Horry, who won seven NBA championships combined with the Lakers, Houston Rockets, and San Antonio Spurs, knows what it takes to go the distance. The Celtics swung for the fences when they traded for Porzingis and Holiday, and Horry believes that those gambles were worth the risk.
Kristaps Porzingis Raves About Jrue Holiday
After the Celtics beat the New York Knicks in their fourth preseason game on October 17, Porzingis gushed about Holiday’s impact since arriving in Boston.
“Yeah, honestly, since he got here, he’s been looking for me in practices and games, and we’ve been all kind of putting in our minds that we want to play for each other. We wanna enjoy each other’s success, and Jrue has been phenomenal from the moment that he got here,” Porzingis said during his postgame press conference.
Porzingis added how impressed he’s been Holiday in how quickly he’s adapted to Boston despite the short time he’s had to get acquainted with everything.
“Just thinking about his situation getting traded from one of the biggest rivals to the rival team, it’s crazy. He was able to jump in with us and just be a great teammate from the first moment he got there and just be the same dog that he is on defense and then making the game easy for me and for us offensively also. He’s been nothing but awesome with us.”
Scout Believes Bucks Don’t Match Up Well With Celtics
While previewing the central division, Sports Illustrated’s Chris Mannix talked to a scout who explained why he believes that the Celtics are not a good matchup for the Milwaukee Bucks.
“That lack of athleticism will be a problem in the playoffs. Because Boston’s pretty athletic just because of [Jayson] Tatum and [Jaylen] Brown. Philly’s a s— show, so who knows there? They would probably match up poorly versus Cleveland. I think they match up poorly versus Boston,” the scout told Mannix in an October 17 story.
The Bucks solved their halfcourt offense issues with Damian Lillard, but they also got rid of one of their very best defenders in Holiday. If that wasn’t bad enough, now he’s with the team the Bucks may consider as their toughest competition to get out of the East.