
For much of the 2022-23 NBA season, the team to beat has been the Boston Celtics, freshly focused after falling to the Golden State Warriors in six games in the 2022 NBA Finals. After the Celtics blazed a trail to the league’s best record in the Eastern Conference, it helped change the minds of the Brooklyn Nets front office, who sent superstar forward Kevin Durant to the Phoenix Suns in a trade deadline deal in early February.