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Don Nelson details which team he thinks could threaten Warriors this season

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Tolbert & Lund caught up with former Warriors head coach, and fan favorite, Don Nelson on Thursday. Nelson called in from his home on the island of Maui, and was entertaining as always, discussing his frequent poker games with Willie Nelson, and the sudden breakup of the We Believe team, among other things.

Nelson also gave his take on this year’s Warriors team, and was asked if he thought anybody else in the league can give them a run for their money come June. Nelson believes such a team exists, but it’s not the Cleveland Cavaliers.

“I don’t see anybody in the West, but I think you better look out for Boston,” Nelson said. “I think they’re pretty good. They’re going to play their style you know, and their style can play more than one way too. They can go smaller and they can go bigger. I think they’re going to be the team you’re playing in the Finals personally.

“What I look for in teams is where are their priorities? The Warriors want to win more than do anything else. I think the Celtics are the same way.”

Even with big summer signing Gordon Heyward out for the season, the Celtics have been the best, most consistent team in the Eastern Conference this year. The Celtics (34-12) currently hold the second best record in the league behind Golden State (37-9), and boast the NBA’s number one defense.

The Celtics’ success in recent years in tied directly into the ability of their head coach Brad Stevens, who has exceeded what Nelson thought he’d be able to accomplish coming out of college.

“When Danny Ainge hired him, I said to myself, ‘that poor bastard.’ I mean Boston wasn’t good, and here’s this young, really nice college coach going into the pros which you know are very difficult to coach, and I’m just thinking that guy’s got no chance to win. He’s going to be fired in two years and it’s a bad move on his part, but boy was I wrong. That guy is a really good coach.”

Nelson also said he believes the stumbling Cavaliers, who have lost 8 of their last 11, will hit another gear once Isaiah Thomas becomes acclimated, but still thinks Boston is the team to beat coming out of the East.

“They’ve got another level they can get to when they get their point guard playing up to his level where he played a year ago and the last four or five years really,” Nelson said. “I think he’s going to bring them to a different level. I still don’t think they have enough to beat Boston. From what I’ve seen I think Boston is a very together team. If they can stay healthy and keep it going, to me I think they are best team in the East.”

Listen to the full interview below. To hear Nelson’s comments on the Celtics, skip to 7:45