Kevin Garnett said the Celtics aren’t a top 4 team in the East. Here’s why.

Before the season started, Paul Pierce asked Kevin Garnett for his thoughts on the top teams in the Eastern Conference.

Garnett didn’t have the Celtics, who won the Eastern Conference Finals last year, listed in the top four. He predicted that Philadelphia, Brooklyn, Milwaukee, and Cleveland would all finish ahead of Boston.

Pierce, who co-hosts a segment called Ticket & Truth on Garnett’s show “KG Certified,” was shocked.

“I don’t get your thinking on all this, big fella,” Pierce said in a recent episode.

This week, Garnett explained his reasoning for doubting the Celtics.

“I look at it on paper. On paper, the 76ers and the additions to that team look unbelievable,” Garnett said. “You know what I’m saying? And that’s what I was gauging. Then, on top of it having Giannis, Middleton, and those guys, Middleton ain’t even back, you know? So I’m looking at the league like that. If they didn’t have Rob Williams to clog the middle, I didn’t know if Al Horford was healthy.”

Garnett mentioned that Ime Udoka’s suspension was a factor, too.

Pierce pushed back, saying that Boston has the best duo in the league in Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown and deserves to be in the top four. He said he’s been getting feedback from Celtics fans on Twitter asking why Garnett doubted the Celtics so much.

“You really hurt the Celtics fanbase, you know what I’m saying?” Pierce joked. “I was out there and they were like ‘what’s up with KG?’ Why he ain’t rolling with the young fellas?”

Garnett responded, saying he supports Brown and Tatum but was giving his honest opinion. He said he heard the same comments from fans.

“Stop talking to me like I ain’t hearing the same [expletive], alright?” Garnett said.

Garnett said that he needed to see the Celtics win without Williams before he could feel comfortable putting them ahead of his other top teams.

“I told you, the Rob Williams piece out of that was a big question mark,” Garnett said. “Who was going to fill the five? I didn’t know Malcolm was going to come here. They’ve actually got a deeper bench this year. So yeah, from that, I had to see it first.”

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The post Kevin Garnett said the Celtics aren’t a top 4 team in the East. Here’s why. appeared first on Boston.com.