While there has been plenty of excitement over the moves that other ball clubs in the NBA's Eastern Conference arms race, by and large the Boston Celtics are seen as a cut above the rest of their peers in the league's weaker conference. But those moves could make for a tougher regular season path to the 2025 NBA Playoffs, especially among teams like the New York Knicks, the Philadelphia 76ers, and maybe even the once mighty Milwaukee Bucks.

So who IS the second-best team in the East? The hosts of the CLNS Media "Celtics Lab" podcast linked up with Sports Illustrated's Bobby Krivitsky to break down the likely candidates on a recent episode of their show. They also get you up to speed on Celtics in Paris for the Olympics and plenty more.

Check out this week's latest pod and scratch your Boston basketball itch while we wait for preseason to get here in the fall.

The Celtics Lab is brought to you by Prize Picks and Gametime.

If you enjoy this pod, check out the "How Bout Them Celtics," "First to the Floor," "Celtics Lab," and the many other New England sports podcasts available on the CLNS Media network.

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The Boston Celtics have finished their run in the NBA's Las Vegas Summer League, leaving the remaining trickle of news and the trio of Celtics playing for Team USA as the last flickering flames still burning from Boston's banner season. But given we are on the threshold of the dog days of summer, we'll take what we can get when it comes to Celtics basketball. 

And not all of that trickle of news is minor -- Boston extended key reserve forward Sam Hauser on a team-friendly deal, for starters. This week on the CLNS Media "Celtics Lab" podcast, we link up with "Green With Envy" cohost Will Weir to talk about the Hauser extension, Team USA's recent struggles and what might be behind them.

We even get into a little Celtics trivia for good measure, so dust off your old programs (or hit up basketball reference dot com, depending on your age) to study up and play along.

The Celtics Lab podcast is brought to you by Prize Picks and Gametime.

If you enjoy this pod, check out the "How Bout Them Celtics," "First to the Floor," "Celtics Lab," and the many other New England sports podcasts available on the CLNS Media network.

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With the NBA draft and the league's 2024 free agency period over with for all intents and purposes, we know what every team in the league is going to look like on opening night. With that knowledge, we can begin to project how the order of each conference will come together once the games start getting played as the Boston Celtics pursue another title.

And with an eye to how the Association's Western Conference is likely to look come the 2025 NBA Playoffs, the hosts of the CLNS Media "Celtics Lab" podcast linked up with Thunder Wire editor Clemente Almanza. We of course talk about how the Oklahoma City Thunder have reshaped their roster, and who else might threaten to come out of the conference as a potential obstacle to Boston hanging Banner 19.

We also get caught up on what little news there is from Las Vegas Summer League, Team USA, and the usual grist of the offseason beat. Check it out!

The Celtics Lab podcast is brought to you by Prize Picks and Gametime.

If you enjoy this pod, check out the "How Bout Them Celtics," "First to the Floor," "Celtics Lab," and the many other New England sports podcasts available on the CLNS Media network.

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The vast majority of action in NBA free agency for the 2024 offseason has gone down, with rosters around the league looking more or less finished barring any unexpected trades. So with that in mind, we can begin to assess how the order of the league will look when opening night finally arrives for the 2024-25 season.

And to get a handle on how movement in the Eastern Conference may have shifted the plate tectonics on which the order of the East will be forged, the hosts of the CLNS Media "Celtics Lab" podcast sat down with Sixers Wire editor Ky Carlin. 

We get into which teams (or is it the singular team?) have elevated their games to contender status, which have fallen out of it, and even touch on the conference's emerging middle class. So, to get up to speed on the new landscape of the East and how threatened the Celtics should be by it (if at all), make sure to tune in to this episode.

The Celtics Lab podcast is brought to you by Prize Picks and Gametime.

If you enjoy this pod, check out the "How Bout Them Celtics," "First to the Floor," "Celtics Lab," and the many other New England sports podcasts available on the CLNS Media network.

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The Boston Celtics already had more than enough going on when news broke that Wyc and Irv Grousbeck would be selling their majority share in the team. That very day, the ball club's front office extended not only starting point guard Derrick White to a team-friendly deal, but also star forward Jayson Tatum to the largest deal in NBA history.

So there were plenty of balls in the air when the details of the potential sale broke. Multiple reports at times seemed to conflict in places with one another, and the deeper details beyond the breaking news are still to fully emerge. To help us wrap our heads around what was going on with the news of the Celtics being for sale, the hosts of the CLNS Media "Celtics Lab" podcast linked up with Axios Business Editor Dan Primack.

We also get into all that Boston has been up to in free agency and beyond as the team begins the work of building out the roster for a run at Banner 19.

The Celtics Lab podcast is brought to you by Prize Picks and Gametime.

If you enjoy this pod, check out the "How Bout Them Celtics," "First to the Floor," "Celtics Lab," and the many other New England sports podcasts available on the CLNS Media network.

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The Boston Celtics are your 2024 NBA World Champions, but if they want to repeat in 2025 to hang Banner 19, they are going to need to avail themselves of every advantage ahead of the 2024-25 season, particularly the looming 2024 NBA draft.

For the vast majority of the team's fans, this is one draft we have not been paying very much attention to, given the Celtics' recent run to and victory in the finals. But securing low-cost rotation help will be key to making a potential dynasty viable, meaning Boston really needs to nail their two picks in this draft.

To that end, the hosts of the CLNS Media "Celtics Lab" podcast sat down with For The Win draft expert Bryan Kalbrosky to pick his brain about the prospects we know the Celtics have worked out -- and several we think they should have.

Get up to speed on all things 2024 NBA draft from a Boston point of view in this episode.

The Celtics Lab podcast is brought to you by Prize Picks and Gametime.

If you enjoy this pod, check out the "How Bout Them Celtics," "First to the Floor," "Celtics Lab," and the many other New England sports podcasts available on the CLNS Media network.

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After five trips to the Eastern Conference finals over the previous six seasons, the Boston Celtics have finally hung Banner 18. And while winning Banner 19 is the logical next step for the Celtics, if the path to Boston's current title has taught us anything, it's that there are a lot of moves required to push a team over the top.

To that end, the hosts of the CLNS Media "Celtics Lab" podcast linked up with "How Bout Them Celtics" cohost Jack Simone to take stock of what Boston likely has on their agenda once they get done celebrating the title they just won. We spend a little more time reflecting on the historic win, then turn our attention to the 2024 NBA draft, free agents, and extension candidates.

We also gloat a bit, pull back the curtain on what happened at TD Garden late into the night, debate whether Celtics fans are over their ire at Kyrie Irving, and touch on the trickle of news starting to percolate up again.

The Celtics Lab podcast is brought to you by Prize Picks, and Gametime.

If you enjoy this pod, check out the "How Bout Them Celtics," "First to the Floor," and the many other New England sports podcasts available on the CLNS Media network.

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They did the thing, finally. The Boston Celtics are your 2024 NBA Champions after a historic 2023-24 NBA regular season and an equally historic run to the long-coveted Banner 18. The game and series were won with teamwork and defense in classic Boston style, sending beloved Boston broadcaster Mike Gorman off with a proper closeout to a storied career.

With the win, Celtics mystique has been reborn, a new generation of superstars established, and a new era of greatness for the most storied ball club in the history of the league. There will be time enough soon for detailed breakdowns of the game, the series, and the season.

But tonight, your "Celtics Lab" podcast hosts of the CLNS Media network simply soaked it in, and shared their thoughts on this historic moment and what it means to Cameron Tabatabaie, Alex Goldberg, and Justin Quinn.

The Celtics Lab podcast is brought to you by Prize Picks, and Gametime.

If you enjoy this pod, check out the "How Bout Them Celtics," "First to the Floor," and the many other New England sports podcasts available on the CLNS Media network.

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The Boston Celtics have taken a commanding 3-0 series lead vs. the Dallas Mavericks in the 2024 NBA Finals, thanks to some clutch play from Jaylen Brown and Jayson Tatum as they combined for 61 points in Boston's 106-99 Game 3 victory, and elite defense late in the game's second half.

That the win came with star Celtics center Kristaps Porzingis having to sit out the game with an injury sustained n game 2 makes the outcome even more impressive given the haymakers Dallas threw early. Now, Boston finds themselves with a series lead that has never been overcome and a chance to close out the finals on the Mavericks' home court.

Will they win this series in four or five games? Will Porzingis play again in the finals? Where are the haters who told us Boston has no bench and wilts under pressure? And most importantly, how many bouquets of flowers do we collectively need to give the Jays, Joe Mazzulla, and Brad Stevens?

The hosts of the CLNS Media "Celtics Lab" podcast took it all in after Game 3 with an eye to what might be coming next. Revel in the Celtics being on the cusp of the long-coveted Banner 18 with us as we try to soak it all in.

The Celtics Lab podcast is brought to you by Prize Picks and Gametime.

If you enjoy this pod, check out the "How Bout Them Celtics," "First to the Floor," and the many other New England sports podcasts available on the CLNS Media network.

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The Boston Celtics beat the Dallas Mavericks 105-98 in Game 2 of their 2024 NBA Finals series to take a 2-0 series lead at TD Garden this past Sunday (June 9) night. This puts the Mavs in a position that 36 other teams in the finals have found themselves in: a 0-2 series deficit, something only 5 of those teams have ever come back from.

Can the Mavs win Game 3 at home now that the series shifts to Texas, and increase the odds of becoming the sixth-ever ball club to accomplish such a tough feat? Or is this series inching toward the inevitable hanging of Banner 18 in Boston this summer? What would have to happen for either team to win Game 3, and beyond it, the series?

To get a read on which way this series is more likely to go, the hosts of the CLNS Media "Celtics Lab" podcast, Alex Goldberg, Cameron Tabatabaie, and Justin Quinn, linked up with WFAA's Irvin Castellanos to talk all things Celtics - Mavs Game 3.

The Celtics Lab podcast is brought to you by Prize Picks and Gametime.

If you enjoy this pod, check out the "How Bout Them Celtics," "First to the Floor," and the many other New England sports podcasts available on the CLNS Media network.

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