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  6. article_body => "<p>The short-handed Boston Celtics pulled off another big win on Friday night, and Kendrick Perkins was impressed.<\/p>\n<p>The former C's big man chimed in on Twitter following&nbsp;Boston's victory over the Detroit Pistons to praise Brad Stevens and his team's \"next man up mentality.\" He even went as far as to declare Stevens the front-runner for NBA Coach of the Year.<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\"><p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">The Boston Celtics just keep on rolling!!! Next man up mentality. I know it\u2019s early but Brad Stevens gotta be the front runner for Coach of the Year!!!!<\/p>&mdash; Kendrick Perkins (@KendrickPerkins) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/KendrickPerkins\/status\/1208220389039587328?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">December 21, 2019<\/a><\/blockquote>\n<script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script>\n \n<p class=\"wysiwyg-center\"><strong><em><a href=\"https:\/\/smart.link\/5bb76e2c06579?site_id=Dig_RSN_Bos&amp;creative_id=nbcsbos1938&amp;cp_4=stream.nbcsports.com&amp;cp_1=rsn&amp;cp_2=nba-celtics-live-stream&amp;cp_3=nbcsbos1938\">LIVE stream the Celtics all season<\/a>&nbsp;and get the latest news and analysis on all of your teams from NBC Sports Boston&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/smart.link\/5bb76e2c06579?site_id=Dig_RSN_Bos&amp;creative_id=nbcsbos1075&amp;cp_4=www.nbcsports.com&amp;cp_1=washington&amp;cp_2=myteams-nbc-sports&amp;cp_3=nbcsbos1075\">by downloading the My Teams App<\/a>.<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Stevens certainly has plenty of competition for the award, but&nbsp;Perkins has a valid point. Boston is 19-7 and second in the Eastern Conference despite injuries nagging the&nbsp;team throughout the year. Plus, the complete 180&nbsp;in team chemistry has been noteworthy.<\/p>\n<p>If the C's keep up this pace throughout the season, it's hard to imagine Stevens won't at least be in the running for Coach of the Year honors. There still are 55 games left on the schedule, though, so we've got a long way to go before we&nbsp;start taking that discussion seriously.<\/p>\n<h3><a href=\"https:\/\/www.nbcsports.com\/boston\/celtics\/brad-stevens-encourages-crowd-go-nuts-putting-tacko-fall-celtics?int\" target=\"_blank\"><strong>WATCH: Stevens fires up TD Garden crowd before putting Tacko in game<\/strong><\/a><\/h3>\n"
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Celtics

Celtics

The short-handed Boston Celtics pulled off another big win on Friday night, and Kendrick Perkins was impressed.

The former C's big man chimed in on Twitter following Boston's victory over the Detroit Pistons to praise Brad Stevens and his team's "next man up mentality." He even went as far as to declare Stevens the front-runner for NBA Coach of the Year.

LIVE stream the Celtics all season and get the latest news and analysis on all of your teams from NBC Sports Boston by downloading the My Teams App.

Stevens certainly has plenty of competition for the award, but Perkins has a valid point. Boston is 19-7 and second in the Eastern Conference despite injuries nagging the team throughout the year. Plus, the complete 180 in team chemistry has been noteworthy.

If the C's keep up this pace throughout the season, it's hard to imagine Stevens won't at least be in the running for Coach of the Year honors. There still are 55 games left on the schedule, though, so we've got a long way to go before we start taking that discussion seriously.

 

WATCH: Stevens fires up TD Garden crowd before putting Tacko in game