NBA Insider Calls Celtics vs West Powerhouse the Ideal Finals Matchup

Can the reigning champs return to the NBA Finals this summer?

Feb 28, 2025; Boston, Massachusetts, USA; Boston Celtics guard Jaylen Brown (7) high fives forward Jayson Tatum (0) after the Cleveland Cavaliers called a timeout during the first quarter at TD Garden. Mandatory Credit: Winslow Townson-Imagn Images | Winslow Townson-Imagn Images

Do the NBA's last two champions have enough ammunition to finally face off against each other in this summer's NBA Finals?

Zach Harper of The Athletic sure thinks so. Not only that, but Harper posits that a clash between the reigning champion Boston Celtics and the 2023 title-winning Denver Nuggets would be an optimal matchup, in terms of the sheer level of basketball brilliance that could be on display.

“If we want to see the best basketball with top star power, a Nuggets-Celtics NBA Finals matchup would be the best-case scenario for the league," Harper writes. "Maybe it won’t provide the top narratives, even with these two teams winning the most recent championships, nor is it in line with the parity movement by the league. But from a basketball-quality perspective, it could be as good as it gets.”

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The Nuggets still boast arguably the league's best player, three-time league MVP Nikola Jokic, who's performing at an astronomical level this season. The 6-foot-11 center is on pace to join only Denver teammate Russell Westbrook and Hall of Fame former Cincinnati Royals and Milwaukee Bucks point guard Oscar Robertson as just the third player in history to average a triple-double over the course of a full season.

Clutch plays from clutch players 💪 pic.twitter.com/mEPbgbQXpR

— Boston Celtics (@celtics) March 3, 2025

Across 55 contests this season, Jokic is averaging 28.9 points on .578/.443/.822 shooting splits, 12.7 rebounds and 10.4 assists a night. He has taken his shooting to another level this season, while remaining perhaps the NBA's savviest passer, and one of its top scorers and rebounders.

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Denver is currently 39-22 on the season, good for the No. 3 overall seed in the Western Conference. The Nuggets and the No. 2-seeded Lakers are each 11 games behind the 50-11 Oklahoma City Thunder, and seem unlikely to catch Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and co. without something disastrous afflicting Oklahoma City.

At 43-18, the Celtics seem to be virtually locked into the East's No. 2 seed this year. They're 7.5 games behind the 50-10 Cleveland Cavaliers, and 2.5 games ahead of the 40-20 New York Knicks. Six-time All-Star forward Jayson Tatum and four-time All-Star forward Jaylen Brown both look to be on pace to add another All-NBA honor to their resumes, leading a deep club with one of the league's best defenses and its highest-volume 3-point shooting output ever.

Fans got a sneak preview of what a Celtics-Nuggets Finals could look like on Sunday, when Boston eked out a 110-103 victory against Denver largely by ignoring Jokic and letting the rest of the team try to beat it.

The Celtics just beat the Nuggets because they didn't care about Nikola Jokic (kind of) pic.twitter.com/kMMAoIdvbh

— Jack Simone (@JackSimoneNBA) March 3, 2025

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For all the latest news and notes on the reigning champs, stay tuned to Celtics On SI.