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ERROR: type should be string, got "https://celticswire.usatoday.com/2020/12/17/nba-boston-celtics-fivethirtyeight-title-odds-preseason-2020-2021/\nFiveThirtyEight sees Boston Celtics tied for best title odds in 2020-21\nThe data wizards over at FiveThirtyEight have made their preseason assessment of NBA championship odds, and they see the Boston Celtics in a very favorable light despite significant departures in free agency and multiple injuries of note.\nThe perennial exercise — really, exercises — are based off of the statistical analysis outfit’s two primary projection models, which create slightly different outcomes based on which statistical modeling approach is used. Their so-called RAPTOR and ELO projections each generate 100,000 simulations of the season based on their respective criteria, which vary slightly from one another in how they estimate what’s left of the season — in this case, all of it.\n🥁\nOUR 2020-21 NBA PREDICTIONS ARE HERE. https://t.co/6E58GtcaT5\n— FiveThirtyEight (@FiveThirtyEight) December 17, 2020\n“Our player-based RAPTOR forecast doesn’t account for wins and losses; it is based entirely on our NBA player projections, which estimate each player’s future performance based on the trajectory of similar NBA players,” they explain.\n“These are combined with up-to-date depth charts — tracking injuries, trades and other player transactions — to generate talent estimates for each team. A team’s full-strength rating assumes all of its key players are in the lineup. A team’s current rating reflects any injuries and rest days in effect at the moment of the team’s next game. Elo ratings — which power the pure Elo forecast — are a measure of team strength based on head-to-head results, margin of victory and quality of opponent.”\n“So,” you ask, “what did they see the Celtics doing in the playoffs, then?”\nCeltics are second favorite to win the title basically because their metrics are high on Kemba which might be all you need to know about the team right now.\nIf Kemba, Jayson, Jaylen, and Marcus are healthy they're good; if not they're probably not. https://t.co/foW1WI8Gne\n— Ryan Bernardoni AC⚡️AB (@dangercart) December 17, 2020\nIn one model, they won it all more than any other franchise — 16% odds, edging their longtime rival Los Angeles Lakers with 15% — while in another, those percentages flipped with the Lakers coming out on top.\nThe ELO model likes Boston ever-so-slightly more, while the RAPTOR model is evidently leaning Los Angeles.\nThis of course assumes a fully-healthy roster including recuperating All-Star point guard Kemba Walker; without his presence as an active player, the team’s winning percentages would presumably drop considerably.\nAll 17 Celtics ask Gov. Baker to regulate facial recognition tech use for police\nWATCH: Yam Madar highlights vs Ironii Nahariya (18 pts, 4 ast)\nJeff Teague tells heartfelt story about Brad Stevens saving his life\nCeltics' Jayson Tatum wants to 'be one of the best to play this game'\nOn this day: Wilkins and Hondo go for 43 - 31 years apart; Yabu born\nCould the James Harden deal open up other trade targets for Boston?\nThe Boston Celtics may have elected to pass on trading for disgruntled Houston Rockets star James Harden, but that doesn't mean the deal will not end up generating potential trade targets for the team.\nSometimes, it makes more sense to build up an already-solid roster around the margins instead of going for the big splash of a trade. With two young rising stars on the wing, Jaylen Brown and Jayson Tatum, locked up for several seasons beyond 2020-21, dealing for a star with the baggage and age of Harden probably wasn't the right move for the Celtics.\nBut who...\nWho might return to action in what games for the Boston Celtics?\nThe Boston Celtics have had a LOT of players either testing positive (Robert Williams III, Jayson Tatum) or in the league's health and safety protocols as a precautionary measure (Tristan Thompson, Grant Williams, Javonte Green, Semi Ojeleye, Jaylen Brown) in recent days.\nThey've had to postpone games because of it, and may yet have to kick down the road at least another while players return to available status -- particularly given Kemba Walker and Romeo Langford remain out while recovering from injury. How long will the Celtics be in such a position? That depends on when players...\nThe NBA might need to update its COVID-19 protocols\nCould the NBA's approach to COVID-19 safety be built off of a faulty premise for play outside of a bubble environment?\nThat's exactly the question raised by the Athletic's Tim Cato and Jared Weiss, who note the surging case numbers around the league and the related necessity of placing players adjacent to them for too long or without masks into the league's health and safety protocols for contact tracing. With a growing number of games either being played with a skeleton crew of players or being postponed when the number of available players dips below the NBA's..."