The Boston Celtics finally have a one game lead over the Cavaliers in the standings
When the Cleveland Cavaliers handed the Boston Celtics their worst loss of the season, everyone assumed that the race for the one seed was over. With just four games remaining each, the game ahead along with the tiebreaker looked like more than enough to ensure they controlled home court.
Then. the unthinkable happened. The Cavaliers blew a 26 point lead against the Hawks, and gave the Celtics hope by being tied in the standings. The timing could not have been better, or worse, depending how you look for it, as the Cavaliers had to follow that up with a second night of a back to back against a Heat team in a do or die situation. As expected, LeBron James and Kyrie Irving sat, and the Cavaliers lost their second in a row opening the door for the Celtics, who just finished beating the Nets.
Somehow, the Celtics find themselves with a one game lead and one game remaining. Being in this position alone means the Celtics have more than exceeded expectations this season, but it will feel like a disappointment if they do not finish against the Milwaukee Bucks.
The Cavaliers have made it abundantly clear that they are completely indifferent to home court. James has proven that he can get to the finals on the road, multiple times, and there is no reason for him to doubt that he could do that once again this season.
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Given the way James talked, and the way Tyronn Lue decided to sit players, it had been clear for a while that the Cavaliers were not putting weight on getting that one seed. Even though the Raptors will have nothing to play for, it cannot be ruled out that the Cavaliers rest players again for that season finale.
Brad Stevens has made it clear that he is not talking about the standings. That being said, he has also made it clear that the team has more to gain by playing than resting. For an inconsistent Celtics team, it was important they got out of the Cavaliers and Hawks game slump. They have improved, and if they can take down the Bucks and secure home court advantage to the finals, then that will bring back all the momentum that the Cavaliers initially took away.
The Nets game still served as yet another reminder that the Celtics need to play consistently. They continue to give up massive runs in every game, and they need to make sure that is not happening in the playoffs. Hopefully, the message will have got through to them, because they did not have much success last time they played the Bucks.
The Celtics were victims of Malcolm Brogdon, but now they should be in a better place to beat them. There was a lot of unknown with that Bucks team. Khris middleton had not played earlier in the season, and Brogdon was always have to gauge as a rookie.
The Celtics looked lost in the first matchup, but with that memory, and the collapses of this recent stretch fresh in their memory, the Celtics should be able to go out there and take the home court that almost no one would have predicted before the season started.
Even if home court does not matter to the Cavaliers, it certainly does for the Celtics. Nothing would make them favorites over Cavaliers, and they know they need everything to go in their favor for a chance to win.
Getting home court is one of many things the Celtics need on their side going into this potential matchup, and it would be a shame if they threw it away after the Cavaliers just gave it up.
The Celtics had one other opportunity to get a hold on home court, and they failed miserably. Now, they have an opportunity to definitively take home court, and it makes no difference what the Cavaliers do if they take care of business.
This is a position anyone associated with the Celtics would have taken in a heart beat if it was presented at the beginning of the season. The Celtics have had a lot of issues this season, but they have continued to win games.
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All it takes is one more and the Celtics can go into the playoffs being in the strongest position they have been in during the Brad Stevens era.