Brad Stevens: 'The Future Is Hard to Predict' After Steve Kerr's Celtics Praise

One day after Golden State Warriors head coach Steve Kerr called the Boston Celtics "the team of the future in the East," Brad Stevens tried to temper expectations in the midst of his team's scalding 13-2 start to the 2017-18 NBA season, per MassLive.com's Jay King:       

"The future is hard to predict. And we've gotta stay in the moment to become the best version of ourselves, is the answer that I have. I really appreciate him saying that. There's nobody that I could respect more. He's an incredible person and coach. But, yeah, we have to stay in the moment and try to be as good as we can be and then we'll see what the future holds."

The Celtics will try to stay in the moment Thursday when they host the Warriors at TD Garden in what will be an early clash between the best of the East and the best of the West to this point in the season. 

It will also represent a showdown between the league's top offense and its top defense. 

To date, the Warriors rank No. 1 overall with an offensive rating of 116.2 points per 100 possessions—six points clear of the second-place Toronto Raptors. 

On the flip side, the Celtics wield the NBA's stingiest defense and are allowing a meager 95.8 points per 100 possessions through 15 games. During their 13-game winning streak, that mark has settled at an even more robust 94.4. 

But as Stevens noted Wednesday, the Celtics can't let frustration get the best of them if the Warriors rip off some of their signature scoring spurts. 

"Things are not going your way the whole time," he said, according to King. "It's not going to be perfect. But if you lower your head, stop doing what you're supposed to do, become disconnected, they just crush you. And so you've gotta really stay together and stay in the moment."

Stats courtesy of NBA.com.