Boston Celtics Playoff Push: Updated Standings

After last nights win in Cleveland, the Boston Celtics have a pretty good chance of making the 2015 NBA Playoffs. In fact, the Hollinger’s NBA Playoff Odds has the Celtics’ with an 82.3 percent chance of making it.

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The Celtics were able to win arguably the toughest of their remaining contests thanks to five Boston players scoring in double digits, led by Marcus Smart’s 19-point performance, and limited minutes for some of Cleveland’s best players.

Apr 10, 2015; Cleveland, OH, USA; Cleveland Cavaliers forward Kevin Love (right) defends a shot by Boston Celtics guard Marcus Smart (36) in the third quarter at Quicken Loans Arena. Mandatory Credit: David Richard-USA TODAY Sports

The Celtics have put themselves in a situation where they likely only need to win one more out of their remaining three games to qualify for the playoffs. The three games are this Sunday, in Boston, against a hopefully LeBron-less Cleveland team, Tuesday in Boston against the already-clinched Raptors, and Wednesday, in Milwaukee, against an almost-definitely-will-be-clinched-by-then Bucks team.

Boston holds the head-to-head tiebreaker against the two teams closest to dethroning them; Indiana and Brooklyn. The Celtics won their season series against each team 3-1, allowing them to finish with the same record as either team and still hold the 7th seed. The third threat to the Celtics, the Miami Heat, are hanging on by a thread after a loss to the Bulls on Thursday.

Brooklyn and Indiana don’t exactly have favorable schedules either. Brooklyn will play the Bucks, who are still in the process of totally securing the six seed from the Celtics, the Bulls, still securing home-court advantage from the Wizards, and the Magic, a game that should mean next-to-nothing in Orlando and a whole lot in Brooklyn.

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Indiana is in for a tough one tomorrow night when they face Oklahoma City, who is in a cage match with the Pelicans for the 8th seed in the Western conference. Next, they will go on to play the Wizards who got creamed by Brooklyn last night, and finally, the Pacers will end their season in Memphis against a team also trying to hold on their home-court advantage. No wonder Hollinger has Indiana with only a 22.5 percent change of grabbing the 7th or 8th seed.

Apr 1, 2015; Boston, MA, USA; Indiana Pacers guard George Hill (3) drives to the basket past Boston Celtics center Kelly Olynyk (41) during the second half at TD Garden. Mandatory Credit: Bob DeChiara-USA TODAY Sports

A Pacers loss against the Thunder tomorrow night would give Boston and Brooklyn some breathing room. As much as I want to see our C’s strive to achieve the most that they possibly can, I’m sort of hoping for Brooklyn to jump them for the 7th seed. Despite the win last night in Cleveland, this Celtics team was not built to preform against a team like Cleveland and a beast like LeBron.

The boys did do a decent job defensively, holding LeBron to just 14 points, 7 assists, and 3 rebounds in his 26 minutes. The key, however, is that Kyrie Irving did not play at all last night. Irving has had some big games against Boston this year, and he adds a whole other element to the Cavs game. When he is on the floor, the Celtics cannot devote as much attention to LeBron because Kyrie is almost equally dangerous.

Make no mistake, this was a massive win for the Celtics on the road and has put them in a great position to make the playoffs. With that said, I wouldn’t get carried away with ourselves just because we beat Cleveland in an inconsequential game for them where they chose to give their bench a lot more minutes than usual. Cleveland is still the team to beat in the East, and a first round playoff matchup against them is the last thing I want.

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