The Boston Celtics are unconscious at the moment, as Brad Stevens’ team has won 12 consecutive games after an 0-2 start. While that level of play may not be fully representative of what is to come in a post-Gordon Hayward world, the Celtics have been wildly impressive in the early going and their performance, led by Kyrie Irving and Al Horford, is turning heads across the NBA.
One high-profile figure that happens to be paying attention is Warriors head coach Steve Kerr, who had glowing things to say about Boston on Tuesday.
Steve Kerr on the Celtics, who he calls "the team of the future" in the East pic.twitter.com/tGCoVbypWB
— Anthony Slater (@anthonyVslater) November 14, 2017
“They’re all on a string,” Kerr said. “They play off each other really well. They’re really sound and they’re motivated. It’s a team that’s been on the rise the last couple years, lost in the conference finals. They want to win a championship. And it looks like, even with Gordon Hayward and that awful injury, Boston is just crushing people. So it’s going to be really fun to go against them on Thursday. We know how tough it’s going to be.”
The Warriors travel to Boston to take on the Warriors Thursday evening in a nationally televised contest and, in short, that game will be the centerpiece of the league on that particular evening. Still, Kerr wasn’t done praising the up and coming Celtics (with their “amazing” coach in Stevens) and his highest compliment was yet to come when he described Boston as the “team of the future in the East with their assets that they still have and their young talent and their coaching.”
It is important to note that this isn’t necessarily Kerr proclaiming that the Celtics were the favorites for this year but he did include Boston on a list of contenders that he is “keeping an eye on” from Oakland. Until a team led by LeBron James falls short of the NBA Finals, this is all purely speculative but we can officially add Kerr to the chorus of voices expecting big things from the Celtics down the line.
