Will the Celtics win more than 55.5 games?

Various Vegas books have put the over/under for the Celtics regular season wins at 55.5 games. I don’t gamble, but I do love a good discussion topic, so I’m stealing this one.

Some points of reference:

The Celtics finished with 51 wins last season. That’s even after starting the season with an 18-21 record as of January 6th. They finished the season winning 76.7% of the rest of their games. If they managed that pace for an entire season, that would add up to 62 wins.

However, that pace was necessary after the slow start, and may have led directly led to players feeling worn down and exhausted by the end of the playoffs.

The Celtics very well could start off hot next season, but they might not have the urgency to eke out every last win at the expense of wear and tear, particularly with older players like Al Horford and Danilo Gallinari. The Celtics stars pride themselves on playing a lot of games, and they are still young, but it wouldn’t hurt to give Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown an occasional night of rest. That doesn’t even count potential injuries to anyone on the roster.

On the flipside, the team is as deep as ever in the backcourt and could use that depth to win games even when they don’t have their full squad available.

55.5 wins is a lot, and that’s the highest over/under number projected by Vegas. For point of reference, the Miami Heat led the Eastern Conference with just 53 wins last season (and Phoenix had 64 out West).

So, what do you think? Will the Celtics top that number or not? Explain why in the comments below.