ESPN’s Zach Lowe had some kind words for the Boston Celtics‘ potential in a recent column using his own highly subjective means of ranking tiers of teams for the 2021-22 NBA season. And while he did place the Celtics among teams billed “someone is falling into the play-in race” along with the Atlanta Hawks, Miami Heat, and Philadelphia 76ers, Lowe relates that he sees Boston as second-least likely among those teams to do so.

“People are sleeping on Boston. The Celtics are deep, with the makings of a top-5-ish defense,” observes Lowe, who suggests he is among the those tentative believers in a potential two-big lineup of Al Horford and Robert Williams III as well.

“Don’t fixate on Al Horford potentially starting games in what appears to be an antiquated double-big arrangement,” he suggests.