10 gut reactions after the first weekend of the NBA Playoffs

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Boston Celtics Malcolm Brogdon (David Butler II-USA TODAY Sports) /

The Boston Celtics are the deepest team in the NBA Playoffs

There were a couple of things that stood out to me while watching Game 1 between the Boston Celtics and Atlanta Hawks. For one, I can’t believe the Miami Heat didn’t beat the Atlanta Hawks in the first leg of the Play-In Tournament. But that’s not really important. The second thought was that it’s easy to forget just how deep the Celtics are. Let’s talk it out. The Celtics have Jayson Tatum, Jaylen Brown, Malcolm Brogdon Marcus Smart, Derrick White, Robert Williams, and Al Horford. Boston’s top seven is better than any other team’s top seven in the playoffs right now.

As long as Tatum can play at a superstar level, the Celtics won’t have much trouble making a deep run in the East playoffs. And if this team plays up to its capabilities over the course o the next couple o months, the Celtics are probably winning the NBA Championship. That’s how talented and deep this team is.

The Celtics, predictably, looked good in Game 1 against the Hawks and it would be surprising if they didn’t sweep this first-round matchup.