Outside of the pandemic-shortened 2020-21 NBA campaign, the Boston Celtics haven’t finished with fewer than 46 wins since the 2014-15 season , when they went 40-42.

Although ESPN’s Kevin Pelton’s projected win total for the Celtics in the upcoming campaign is just 45.6, it’s higher than ESPN BET’s over/under win total of 40.5.

Even more surprising, however, is that Pelton projects Boston to finish fifth in the Eastern Conference in 2025-26, ahead of the likes of the Milwaukee Bucks, Atlanta Hawks and Detroit Pistons.

Many fans and experts have predicted that head coach Joe Mazzulla’s group will be battling for a spot in the Play-In Tournament next spring, but if they were to finish in the top six in the conference, they’d avoid that fate.

“As with Indiana, there might be too much

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