Historical trends strongly favor the Boston Celtics to capture the 2027 NBA championship.
Following Tuesday’s emphatic win over the Philadelphia 76ers, Boston’s net rating climbed to 12.2 — the third-best mark in NBA history. Seven of the league’s top 10 all-time teams went on to hoist the Larry O’Brien Trophy, a list that includes the 1995-96 Chicago Bulls (13.4), the 2024-25 Oklahoma City Thunder (12.8), the 2016-17 Golden State Warriors (11.6) and Jayson Tatum’s own 2023-24 Celtics (11.6).
Through 11 games, the Celtics have outscored opponents by 129 points — 46 more than the reigning champion New York Knicks, 48 more than the Detroit Pistons and a staggering 117 more than the Sixers. Come spring, Boston will likely need to go through at least two of those three rivals to reach the NBA Finals.
Boston Celtics Catch Fire
The Celtics are the only team ranking top-three in offensive rating (118.5), defensive rating (106.1) and net rating — the classic hallmark of a legitimate contender. Other top teams like the Lakers, Pistons and Timberwolves have leaned heavily on one side of the ball: Los Angeles boasts the NBA’s No. 1 offense but sits 19th on defense, while Detroit pairs the league’s second-best defense with a middling 16th-ranked offense.
All those markers should fuel optimism. NBC Sports Boston’s Chris Forsberg is more impressed by the Celtics’ ability to stay competitive in the non-Jayson Tatum minutes.
“The trend throughout Tatum’s career is the Celtics put up solid numbers when he’s on the court, and they’re usually just trying to survive the short bursts when he’s resting,” Forsberg wrote after the win over the Sixers.
“This season, Boston teammates are giving Tatum every opportunity to refill the power meter, especially early in the fourth quarter, with the way [Paul] George and Co. have thrived in those stretches.
Paul George Thrives for Celtics
As Forsberg alluded to, Paul George has shattered expectations. Coming into the season, most Celtics fans viewed PG13 as a potential one-year rental — little more than salary ballast to facilitate the Jaylen Brown trade and net some draft assets. Instead, George has performed at an All-NBA level, averaging 22.0 points, 5.2 rebounds, 3.8 assists and 2.1 steals on blistering 49/44/82 shooting splits. It’s a dramatic leap from his final year in Philadelphia, where he managed 17.3 points on 43% shooting.
“The Celtics are outscoring opponents by 16.6 points per 100 possessions in George’s 301 total minutes,” Forsberg highlighted. “That net rating dips to +7.6 during his 232 minutes on the bench.
“It was unfair to expect George to replace all of what Brown did in his role as Tatum’s running mate for the better part of a decade. But he’s fit perfectly in that role, and his strong two-way impact is maybe the biggest reason that Boston sits atop the Eastern Conference through the first three weeks of the 2026-27 season.”
For what it’s worth, the Celtics are now the odds-on favorites to represent the East in the NBA Finals. They own the third-shortest odds (+800) to win the championship, behind the San Antonio Spurs (+300) and Oklahoma City Thunder (+450).
Boston Celtics Good News Keeps Coming Amid 9-2 Start