Boston Celtics: Breaking down the C’s path to the 4th seed

As I said in a previous article, the Boston Celtics would really benefit from getting the fourth seed for the NBA playoffs.

Not only would it give them home-court advantage for the first round, but it also would ensure that they avoid the top-3 seeds until the second round, and keeps them far away from the dreaded play-in tournament.

As of right now, the Cs find themselves tied with the Atlanta Hawks in the fifth spot in the Eastern Conference, and only a half-game behind the fourth-seeded New York Knicks.  Let’s take a look at Boston’s path to the fourth seed by first looking at the remaining schedule for the New York Knicks and the Atlanta Hawks.

Exterior factors will have a huge impact on Boston Celtics getting fourth seed

The Hawks have four very tough games on their schedule, including two against the top-seeded Philadelphia 76ers, and one apiece against the Bucks and the Suns.

As Boston Celtics fans, we can hope they lose all four, but history suggests that they could easily get one of the games.

They also have games against the Chicago Bulls, Portland Trail Blazers, and Indiana Pacers, none of which I would consider really tough, nor very easy wins.  With this, we could see them attain a 2-1 record in those three games.

Finally, they also have five games against the likes of the Orlando Magic, Washington Wizards, and Houston Rockets, which likely means five wins. So, based on this projection they will finish the season with a record of 8-4.

The Knicks have four tough games on their schedule. Two against the Phoenix Suns and one each against the Los Angeles Lakers and Clippers.

Like with the Hawks, fans will hope they’ll drop all four, but it’s likely they will win one if not two of these.

They also have games against the Bulls, San Antonio Spurs, Charlotte Hornets, Toronto Raptors, and Denver Nuggets. I think we can safely project that three of these will be wins.

They also have two of what should be easy wins against the Memphis Grizzles and Rockets. After these games, they end the season with a matchup against our beloved Cs. Based on my projections, they will likely go into the season-ending game with the Boston Celtics with seven wins.

The shamrock’s schedule could be looked at as slightly more favorable, as they don’t have really any tough games remaining.

However, as we have seen with the team this season, even games that appear to be less daunting can easily end up as losses. Boston has three of these less daunting games remaining against Orlando, Cleveland, and Minnesota.

Now, we all know that they will be resting players and nursing injuries, but even considering that these games are must-wins if the Celtics are to have any chance at the fourth seed.

Their winnable, though far from easy games include two against the Miami Heat, two against Charlotte, and one each against Portland, Oklahoma City, Spurs, and the aforementioned Knicks.

Based on the previous projections the Boston Celtics really need to finish the season with between eight and nine wins to put themselves in a good position for the fourth seed.

That won’t be easy, but if they play like they are capable of, it is not impossible.  At the very least, it should be a fun way to end the season and enter the playoffs.