The struggling Celtics get no love from Charles Barkley.
Barkley skipped right over the Celtics when talking about the biggest threats in the NBA's Eastern Conference on "ESPN's First Take."
“[The Cavs] are the team to beat. There’s only two legitimate teams in the East: them and the Toronto Raptors,” Barkley said. He went on to praise Cleveland GM Koby Altman for getting rid of the "junk he got rid of" in the trading away six players at the trade deadline last week.
The Cavs won four in a row leading into the All-Star break, including a 121-99 dismantling of the Celtics Sunday on Paul Pierce Day. The C's have dropped four of five to fall two games behind Toronto for the top spot in the East. The Cavs are 4 1/2 games behind the Celtics.
Here are Barkley's full comments, via ESPN and YouTube:
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