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00:00And yet the Celtics are pretty much the same team that just won a championship in dominant fashion a year ago.
00:07Can we make the argument, as flawed as a lot of these teams are, they all got better because the Celtics didn't have the thunder of the Cavs to worry about a year ago.
00:18I mean, there was never any doubt they were such huge favorites.
00:21Are these teams better and more capable of competing against the Boston Celtics?
00:27I think as a whole, yes. I think the Knicks, while they changed their identity, and I like their identity that they had last year, they have a higher offensive ceiling this year.
00:36My concern is can their defense become a top 10 defense, which has not been the case all year.
00:41And honestly, they struggle more than people think against some of these really good teams.
00:47They have three games coming up against Cleveland that I have circled, two of which are in April, right before the playoffs.
00:53And the other one is one week from today. So immediately after All-Star break, we're going to see Knicks, Cavs, and that's going to be very, very important.
01:01I think for how we look at the Knicks down the stretch, especially considering a trade deadline, they weren't very aggressive and they ended up getting just a lot right.
01:11So they'll probably be active in the buyout market, but their team is kind of their team.
01:15And even on the Western Conference, if you look at Oklahoma City, for example, I think there are challenges to Oklahoma City.
01:22I don't think Oklahoma City is just going to tear through the Western Conference necessarily.
01:25They should be the favorite. And honestly, they probably should be the favorites to win the entire thing, I would have said, if Boston hadn't done what they did last year.
01:34But I think with Boston, there are challengers in the Eastern Conference this year.
01:40The problem is you would have thought Philly would be one of them, and that's just not going to happen.
01:48It's just not going to happen. And then a team like Miami, who's always a pain for them, they're just not there, and Jimmy Butler is no longer there.
01:55So you're just kind of crossing off teams. And the Celtic challengers, it's really two and a half, because we still hold out.
02:04Hey, maybe Milwaukee can go on a winning streak at the end.
02:08I think Orlando traditionally matches up pretty well with them from a defensive standpoint, but they just can't score.
02:15And I don't know, but I think the Cavs are much better than last year, and the Knicks are.
02:20At least they have a higher ceiling than last year.