Boston Celtics: Does Fultz Change Playoff Outlook?
Does the return of Markelle Fultz change anything for the Boston Celtics?
After one of the most bizarre injury sags we have ever seen, Markelle Fultz made his debut for the Philadelphia 76ers, in a blowout win against the Nuggets. Fultz was effective every chance he got, and other than an air ball to open things up, looked like a real asset in his game NBA game.
The 76ers look like they could get home court in the first round, and have a lot of people thinking they can go on a deep playoff run. If the Boston Celtics have hopes of getting to the Finals, there is a good chance they will have to go through the 76ers, and they will have a huge impact on the seeding the rest of the way.
There is no doubt that Fultz adds an unknown dimension to the 76ers, because if he can be as good as people were predicting before the season, the 76ers are going to have the top end talent to compete with anyone in the East.
The good news for Boston is that it no longer looks like they will have to play them in the first round, where they will be without Kyrie Irving and Marcus Smart. If Fultz really is able to have a big impact, there is no way they are going to fall back down to that seven seed.
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The 76ers are the team everyone wants to avoid in the East right now, and the Celtics know they will be better off playing them later one, because they should be back at full strength by then.
Right now, however, all that can be done is speculate. Fultz played one game and was effective in limited minutes.
Keep in mind that the 76ers were playing extremely good basketball before he came back, and any time you bring another ball handler into play, there is the risk that it will be disruptive. They have won seven straight, and may not want to change much of what they had been doing.
Everyone saw the talent in Fultz in college, but he still has a long ways to go before being a trusted NBA player. The 76ers were already the team everyone wanted to avoid in the first round, and as long as Fultz does not tear the team apart, the Celtics will not have to worry about that matchup.
Next: Marcus Morris hurts ankle in win
By the time we get to the playoffs we will have a good idea of how much better Fultz makes the 76ers. For now, he has not played nearly enough for something definitive to be said about him. On top of that, the health is still a bit of a mystery, and people have to keep an eye on whatever happened to his shoulder that kept him out for so long.