Boston Celtics Blow Great Opportunity in Loss to Pistons

Marcus Smart‘s idiotic actions against the San Antonio Spurs may have cost the Boston Celtics a lot more than anyone expected. It’s impossible to say with any kind of certainty how the game against the Detroit Pistons would have gone had Smart been in the lineup. However, in a game that ended in overtime it is far from a stretch to say he would have been the difference. Evan Turner may have been on the dramatic side by saying “as a team [Smart] owes us one”. But the fact of the matter is the Celtics had a rare opportunity to gain significant ground in the standings.

On a night that had both the Miami Heat and the Milwaukee Bucks lose, the Celtics should have seen significant progress in reaching not only the 8 seed but also the 7 seed and even the 6 seed. The Bucks are quietly only three and a half games ahead of the Celtics. Three and a half games is not insurmountable but with the season coming to an end gaining that game on them could have made all the difference in the world.

The Celtics remain only two games behind the Heat, but with the way Wade has been playing two games will be difficult to make up. The Celtics have one more meeting against the Heat and if they had won all they would have to do is keep pace and beat them head to head to get a playoff spot. Now a victory against the Heat may no longer cut it and the Celtics are at the mercy of an aging star who knows nothing bout missing the playoffs.

The Celtics did not just miss an opportunity to gain ground on both the Bucks and the Heat, but they threw away their spot in the 8 seed. The Hornets came up with a huge victory over Minnesota knocking the Celtics out of the playoff picture.

The Celtics are beginning the most crucial stretch of their season and it could have been worse given that the Heat and Bucks both lost. Nevertheless, they should be sick to their stomach as it is rare that a team will gain ground on multiple playoff spots in one night.

The silver lining for the Celtics is that their best player Isaiah Thomas should be returning soon and they are as much in the race as anyone else. The Celtics will have opportunities to play all the teams they are fighting for a playoff spot meaning they will have another opportunity. The biggest problem is that the margin or error is almost non existent now. Unless one of the teams fighting for the last playoff spots go on a season ending run, all it would take is loses to the other playoff teams to knock the Celtics out. There are too many teams involved in the playoff race for the Celtics to continue this losing streak.

In a season that was once lost, the Celtics have brought life back to Boston and tonight they took back a lot of the progress that was made. Once Smart and Thomas are back in the lineup there will be no margin for error as there are two games against the Cavaliers and two games against the Raptors left on their schedule. The Celtics will be far from favourites in these games, but if they manage to beat all the opponents that they are fighting for in the playoffs they should manage to emerge as one of the final playoff seeds.

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