Boston Celtics: 2 Cs who should NOT be a part of playoff rotation

The Boston Celtics have managed to disappoint tremendously throughout the majority of the 2020-21 campaign and, even though it looked like the team was starting to turn the corner earlier this month, rattling off six straight wins at one point, as the days have passed, the team eventually came back down to their sub-par reality.

As of this writing, the shamrocks find themselves tied for the sixth seed out in the Eastern Conference Standings with the Miami Heat, both boasting a middling record of 33-30.

With nine games remaining on the schedule, there is still a chance that this team can work its way up the leaderboard and perhaps even attain a top-4 seed come playoff time, for the difference between the Cs and the current holder of the No. 4 slot, the New York Knicks, is just two wins.

That said, though a win-streak could wind up thrusting them up the standings, a cold spell could drop them considerably, as the difference between the No. 6 seed and the No. 10 seed is a mere five wins or, in Boston’s case, five losses.

Either way, in all likelihood, the Celtics are looking at making their seventh-straight playoff appearance and, while many may be under the impression that they could wind up being an “early-round exit”, the fact of the matter is they are still last year’s runner-ups to represent the conference in the NBA Finals, having taken Miami to six games in the bubble.

Though it may be a new year, this status is still very much felt by the team’s core players, and they’re still looking to make a splash during the tournament.

Of course, as is always the case come the playoffs, the team will be looking to make adjustments to their rotation for their upcoming run, with Brad Stevens cutting back on minutes for some in order to reallocate them in the direction of their key contributors (Jayson Tatum, Jaylen Brown, Marcus Smart, Kemba Walker, etc.).

Traditionally, when it comes to the postseason, a team’s rotation is usually cut drastically to about eight players. Obviously, what this means is some players who may have been finding consistent playing time throughout the regular season will have their time reduced to a bare minimum or they’ll simply find themselves relegated to the bench.

Though there may be some tough calls made by Brad Stevens when it comes to making cutbacks, we at HH believe there are 2 players who have seen on-court action often in 2020-21 who should be scratched from the C’s main playoff rotation: