NBA insider Marc Stein released his newest NBA Power Rankings on Thursday, and the Boston Celtics landed at No. 5, up four spots from Stein's previous rankings.
"Are the Celtics, who once upon a time were a mere 10-9, legitimately top-five material?" Stein wrote (subscription required).
"Their résumé says so. With the league's No. 2 offense and the third-highest nightly average point differential at +6.9, Boston looks like a 40-win team on paper. The 35-19 Celtics also happen to have the whole league talking and wondering about how soon we might see Tatum back after his Achilles' tear last May."
"Quite a trade deadline if you buy the premise that the 2023-24 champs are about to welcome back Tatum on top of the recent acquisition of former All-Star center Nikola Vučević."
Boston begins the second half of its season on Thursday night in Golden State against Al Horford and the Warriors.
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