Raptors: 3 early-season predictions the media got completely wrong

3. The Celtics would finish above the Raptors

Not only did the Raptors get slapped with the projected No. 12 seed, but Jayson Tatum and the Celtics were handed the No. 6 seed in an ESPN+ piece (subscription required).

On top of the fact that last year’s pandemic season was the second time since 2014 that Boston finished above Toronto in the standings, there were plenty of questions surrounding this team.

The Celtics turned to Dennis Schroder as the starting point guard, and they have a first-year coach in Ime Udoka after Brad Stevens moved to the front office. After Toronto embarrassed Boston on the road, it seems like the Celtics are starting to blow up.

Are the Toronto Raptors better than the Boston Celtics?

Despite a win against a rebuilding Magic team, the Celtics are fresh off an explosive meeting between Tatum, Jaylen Brown, and Marcus Smart after some ill-advised comments about Boston’s two stars holding the ball too much. It doesn’t sound like everything is alright up in Massachusetts.

Boston may well turn things around, but the idea that Toronto was not even close to the same tier as the Celtics despite all of their experience and depth was a bit of a brash decision. Tatum has superstar potential, but that may not be enough to create such a huge gap between his squad and the Raptors.