Boston Celtics Have to Capitalize on Raptors’ Slide
One of the bigger issues for the Boston Celtics this season has been figuring out a way to win more games than one of the most consistent teams in the league. Over the past two seasons the Toronto Raptors have avoided stringing multiple loses together, leaving very little room for the Celtics to gain some ground on them.
The Celtics have done their job in keeping in close enough with the Raptors, so that if they began a slide, they would have a great opportunity to jump over them. Well, we are finally in the midst of that slide with the Raptors, but the Celtics are right there with them dropping games they should win.
After a third straight loss, this time to the Suns, the Raptors are just a game and a half above the Celtics. Fans can’t help but wonder what could have been, considering the Celtics have two of their worst loses to the season to the Knicks and the Trail Blazers. The Celtics have failed in their opportunities in head to head match ups with the Raptors, and now they are failing to gain the ground when they need it most.
The Raptors are on arguably the worst slide of their last two seasons, and this may be the best opportunity the Celtics get for the rest of the year to get a hold of that second seed. Now, all that is happening is that the Cavaliers are solidifying their hold on the top seed, and the Korver less Hawks are actually within striking distance of both Atlantic Division teams.
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This loss to the Suns may signify the end of the Raptors slide, in which case the Celtics will have blown a great opportunity. That being said, with a stretch of four games in five nights upcoming, The Celtics still have an opportunity to gain some extra ground on the Raptors prior to the All Star break.
Even if the Celtics are just gaining half a game on some of those nights, they have a great opportunity to be just one game behind the Raptors, and that is something that they can live with after the horrible recent week for both teams.
What the Celtics cannot do, however, is let the Raptors gain any ground after what could end up being their worst three game stretch of the season. The Celtics have let the Raptors off in a big way with their back to back loses, and that needs to end.
The Celtics will not be getting Avery Bradley back, but they have been losing to far inferior teams, and they should be winning without him. The Celtics have done a solid job all year of beating sub .500 teams, and now that they had an opportunity to gain ground on the Raptors, they squandered the easiest of opportunities.
The Celtics are close enough that the pressure will be on the Raptors for the remainder of the season, but these opportunities do not come often. If the Celtics were not able to jump ahead of the Raptors during this stretch, it is fair to question if they ever will. The Celtics were on their hottest run of the season prior to these last two loses, once again holding them back from convincing the league that they are the second best team in the Eastern Conference.
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The Celtics will be hoping that this Raptors slide will continue, in which case, they very well could have that two seed by the time the All Star break comes around. The Celtics cannot follow the Raptors in dropping a third straight, because the reality is that they could find themselves as the four seed, behind the Hawks, if they do not bounce back during this next stretch of games which will feature two tough games against the Rockets and Bucks.