Boston Celtics: B/R named these 3 Cs potential postseason X-Factors

The postseason is quickly approaching for the Boston Celtics and the 19 other teams who will either be qualifying for the postseason play-in tournament or for the playoffs outright.

Momentum is building in Beantown as the Cs have climbed out of the #7 seed and the need to win a matchup against the #8 seed–or the #9 or #10 seed if they can’t win that one–to be a participant in the Eastern Conference quarterfinals.

Currently tied with the Heat but ahead in the standings courtesy of a tiebreaker, Boston has the opportunity to keep pace tonight against the Chicago Bulls and fully seize the #6 seed (or higher) with a series sweep against Miami.

Being able to avoid the postseason play-in will allow extra planning for facing the #3 or #4 seed, but when push comes to shove, trying to figure out X-Factors that could determine a series is nothing one could truly game-plan for.

Bleacher Report’s Zach Buckley made his projections for who it could be, including the following 3 Cs:

Boston Celtics SG/SF Evan Fournier

Evan Fournier was acquired to step into the role Gordon Hayward was playing off the bench during last year’s postseason, but as Buckley notes, he isn’t expected to replicate all that Hayward is capable of on the floor.

Instead, his complimentary shooting and passing was added with just two second-round draft picks, so expectations should be tampered to scale.

As someone who can create his own shot, Fournier’s potential to serve as an X-Factor for this group is high if he can catch fire during one of the team’s outings.

Boston Celtics PG Kemba Walker

As Buckley writes, Walker’s knee injury has knocked his status as a Cs star down to more of a role player at this point. All of the missed games, including at least one leg of every back-to-back, has forced him into more of a luxury most nights he’s in uniform than being one of the key cogs in the machine.

None of this is to downplay his abilities at all. Walker has scored 26 points or more in three of his last four outings, two of them in which he scored 32. That said, those four outings were spread across the last three weeks.

If he can catch this lightning in a bottle during the postseason, there’s no doubt he can serve as a scale-tipping X-Factor.

Boston Celtics C Robert Williams

Finally, there’s the man known as the Time Lord, Robert Williams. Selected with one of the final picks of the 2018 NBA Draft’s first-round, Williams was always going to take time before developing into anything resembling a star.

That said, he had performances in his rookie and sophomore seasons that indicated he can thrive in a bigger role. This season, he is finally getting starts (12 so far) and showing he can deliver when inserted into the starting 5, scoring in double digits for five of them.

Should he get an expanded role in the playoffs, there’s no doubt Williams can ascend into stardom and even eventually be the next Danny Ainge draft pick to become an All-Star.