Celtics are not legit contenders without Tatum

Not sure if this is obvious to everyone, but the Celtics desperately need Tatum to make ANY noise in the postseason. They're 2-8 vs. legit contenders, including 0-5 since the new year started (Knicks, Pistons, OKC - haven't even played, SAS, Denver, and Minnesota). Last year they were 15-8 against the top teams.

This has been a great season with a fun team to watch. They've way over performed, and if they lose in the first or second round in the playoffs I think we'll all still appreciate this season.

But it seems like expectations have been raised recently and I think that's setting fans up for disappointment if Tatum doesn't come back and play like an AS by playoff time. There's too big of a talent gap between them and the top echelon teams, and when everyone plays hard in the playoffs that will be even more apparent than they're 2-8 record vs those teams.

Anyone saying this team is just as or almost as good as last year because they're only two games worse is lying to themselves. Last year's team had a legit chance to win the title and would've made the finals without two historically poor shooting games and Tatum's injury. This team isn't close without Tatum being 95% as good as he's previously been.