Ainge: Celtics not a title contender; players want to prove him wrong

Boston Celtics president Danny Ainge offered a candid moment of honesty this week when he said, "I believe the extraordinary is possible, but I do not look at our team as a team that is a title contender."

The Celtics, jockeying for anywhere between the third and sixth seed in the Eastern Conference playoffs going into Saturday, have already posted their most wins in a season since 2010-11. The scrappy, ensemble cast could very well represent a tough out in the postseason, but as has been the case since Brad Stevens took over as coach in 2013, conventional wisdom is the Celts are at least one star away from greatness.

"But like I always say," Ainge told The Sports Hub, "I think that it's most important what (the players) think. I hope that they believe differently."

That doesn't appear to be an issue.

"I think we can beat anybody," guard Evan Turner said, according to the Boston Herald's Steve Bulpett. "It’s as simple as that. I mean, we have beat contenders."

For the record, the Celtics are 10-12 against the seven other teams in the East's postseason picture.

"But when you get to the playoffs," Turner said, "I think matchups are huge. We might match up better with somebody else. We may match up great with a Golden State, and we may struggle with the Clippers ... different teams cause different problems."

Turner respects Ainge's honesty, but hopes to prove him wrong.

"He's been around for a long time and he's put together a championship contender team," he said of Ainge. "So that's just a personal opinion. But that's why you play the games, you know?"