Kendrick Perkins hits Celtics with bold ‘most dangerous’ proclamation

The Boston Celtics have been one of the most surprising teams in the NBA this year, sitting at 34-18 ahead of Sunday’s matchup against the New York Knicks. The Celtics have managed their good record despite playing without Jayson Tatum, who is still recovering from a torn Achilles suffered during last year’s playoffs.

Recently, former Celtics 2008 NBA champion Kendrick Perkins made a bold proclamation about Boston’s standing in the NBA this year.

“The Celtics are the most dangerous team in the NBA. The Celtics are playing with house money,” said Perkins on ESPN’s NBA Today, per Oh No He Didn’t on X, formerly Twitter.

Indeed, many saw this season as a low pressure one for the Celtics, considering that many expected Tatum would be out of the lineup for the entirety of the year, thus ending any realistic chance at a championship run.

However, while they might not quite be at the level of a bona fide contender at this point, the Celtics have been arguably the league’s biggest surprise this year, with Jaylen Brown playing at an MVP level, and Derrick White and Payton Pritchard rounding into form after slow starts to the year.

The Celtics recently made a move for Chicago Bulls big man Nikola Vucevic, shoring up arguably their biggest weakness in the process, and it’s also not off the table that Tatum could make a return this year.

Boston currently sits at number two in the Eastern Conference, 4.5 games below the upstart Detroit Pistons, although the Knicks have been playing some much improved basketball in recent weeks and are hot on their tail, just a game behind the Celtics entering Sunday’s matchup.

In any case, after the conclusion of the Knicks game, the Celtics will next take the floor on Wednesday evening for a game against the Chicago Bulls, their final contest before the All-Star break.