The Cs may have the most talent of anyone in the East but that is in the aggregate and that doesn't help as much as having a top heavy roster like PHI or even MIL (though MIL is better this year), particularly in the playoffs when the rotations shorten.I think the idea that the Celtics have the most talent in the East should be put to rest. When going against either Toronto or Milwaukee, Kyrie is not the best player on the floor. Probably could say the same about Philly, but Embiid is still just in his 3rd season. All 3 opponents have gotten markedly better since last season. And while we would all love for the Celtics to recapture the energy of those first 50-60 games from last season (when Kyrie was healthy and clearly the best player on the floor for them nearly every night), I do believe the Celtics run may have been a bit of a mirage.
And from an on-court perspective, I've mentioned this before, but to my eyes the Cs biggest problem is that they are being exploited versus mismatches on the defensive end on a far more consistent basis that they are exploiting mismatches on the offensive end.
I.e., it looks like the Cs opponents have been generating better shots than the Cs are generating.