What chances do Celtics have of repeating as champs? Tirico weighs in

What chances do Celtics have of repeating as champs? Tirico weighs in originally appeared on NBC Sports Boston

Repeating as champions in the NBA has all of a sudden become quite difficult.

We’ve had six different champions in the last six years, which hasn’t happened in pro basketball since 1975-80. The Boston Celtics, who ended a 16-year title drought last season by winning their record 18th championship, are hoping to halt that trend and become the first repeat winner since the Golden State Warriors in 2016-17 and 2017-18.

And so far, the C’s have done a pretty good job. They entered Thursday with a 44-18 record, good enough for third-best in the league and second place in the Eastern Conference.

🔊 Celtics Talk: Mike Tirico talks Celtics’ title chances, NBA’s return to NBC | Listen & Subscribe | Watch on YouTube

On the latest episode of NBC Sports Boston’s Celtics Talk Podcast, NBC‘s national NBA play-by-play voice, Mike Tirico, gave his take on the Celtics’ chances of winning back-to-back titles.

“The hardest thing to do in sports is to win a title and come back and do it again, in this era of sports with free agency, injuries, all that stuff. It becomes very hard to repeat,” Tirico said.

“It’s always a fascinating study to watch championship-level teams go through the regular season, because they know — whether in the front of their mind or back of their mind — that there’s a turn of the calendar that means you’ve got to kick it into high gear. A championship-level gear.

“This Celtics team can beat anybody in any gym on any night. The question is can you get to the start point of the playoffs healthy enough. You only have a few teams that live in that space, and this is one of them. They have shown those signs along the way. … They absolutely have everything it takes.”

Health is always a major factor for any contending team. The Celtics were mostly healthy last season, aside from center Kristaps Porzingis, although he did return in the NBA Finals against the Dallas Mavericks.

The competition in the Eastern Conference also could be more intense this season, especially from the Cleveland Cavaliers. The Cavs came back from a 23-point deficit to beat the Celtics at TD Garden last week. These two teams split their regular season series at two wins apiece, and barring a major turn, Cleveland will finish with the East’s top record.

The Celtics do have one key advantage over the Cavs, though, and that’s experience playing deep in the playoffs.

“The Cleveland double-digit blown lead (last week) aside, most of the guys who will take the floor for the Celtics — if Celtics-Cavs is the East Final — most of those guys have been on that stage, and then the (NBA Finals) and succeeded,” Tirico said. “Very few of the Cleveland guys have. So we don’t know if they’re ready. They might be. We’ve seen six different champs in the last six years, so there were teams people might not have thought were ready but actually were.

“Can (the Celtics) beat everyone in the East in a playoff series? Absolutely. Can they win a playoff game in Cleveland because they won’t have homecourt advantage? One thousand percent. But Cleveland can come win here, too. So (the Celtics) are as good as anyone in the East, if not the best in the East. … And yes, they can go beat Oklahoma City or Denver, as we saw Sunday. So yes, this team is — health-willing — just as good as anyone in the league and has just as much of a chance to put Banner 19 up as they did in October.”

The Celtics’ ongoing homestand will test their readiness for the playoffs, including matchups against the top two teams in the West — the Los Angeles Lakers (on Saturday) and the Oklahoma City Thunder (next Wednesday).

Also in this episode:

• Mike discusses the ways the NBA has changed since he last covered it on a regular basis

• Mike and Drew share their thoughts on the differences of a top-tier local broadcast team vs. a national one

• Mike shares his favorite memories of calling games in Boston