The Boston Celtics should prioritize health over home-court advantage
By Seth Quinn
After the Jaylen Brown-less Boston Celtics defeated the KD-less Nets 109-98, they improved their record to 31-12 — giving them a three-game cushion on the second-seeded Nets for the top of the Eastern Conference and a two-game cushion for the best record in the NBA.
At this point, I think most NBA fans and analysts can agree that the Celtics are the real deal and legitimate championship contenders, especially coming off an NBA finals appearance last season.
The addition of key role players such as Malcolm Brogdon and improved overall production from last year’s role players has allowed Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown to blossom into superstars and one of the best, if not the best, duos in the entire NBA.
Despite this dominance so far, there are still plenty of reasons to be worried about the current roster. Robert Williams is great but has always been injury prone, evidenced by his slow return this season. Al Horford, while still productive, is 36, and shouldn’t be asked to play as much as he has been (30.4 minutes per game). Jaylen Brown and Marcus Smart have each missed games recently, and Jayson Tatum mentioned he’s dealing with numerous small injuries making it harder for him to consistently shoot well. Not a single player has played every single game.
Despite all of that, the Cs have clearly shown they are capable of beating anyone, which begs the question…
Are the Boston Celtics the most talented team in the NBA with everyone healthy?
While it’s hard to say given other contenders have had plenty of injuries this season as well, I think the answer is arguably yes. I think the only teams that can rival the team’s talent from top to bottom are the Milwaukee Bucks, and I’ll throw the Golden State Warriors and Denver Nuggets in that mix as the reigning champs and the top team in the west respectively.
If the Celtics do believe they are the best team in the NBA at full strength, I think they should continue to rest and limit the playing time of key players here and there, even if that means losing out on home-court advantage throughout the playoffs.
While it’s only one game, I feel like game six against the Bucks is a prime example of why the Cs don’t need home court. Down 3-2 in a must-win game on the road, Jayson Tatum went off and they won by 13 points.
What I’m trying to get at is home court didn’t seem that significant last season.
In fact, the Celtics had an 8-4 record on the road and 6-6 at home in last year’s playoffs, meaning they were actually better away from the TD Garden. Besides Steph Curry, the Cs showed last season they could beat any star player. They have an MVP candidate in Jayson Tatum and a potential fellow all-star starter in Jaylen Brown. The team is built for the playoffs and is not a finicky roster that will crumble without home-court advantage.
With two superstars and the most depth they’ve had in recent seasons, the Celtics should in theory be able to beat anybody in the playoffs, whether they have home court or not.
As much as Boston Celtics fans hate the guy, the team should take a page out of LeBron James’s book, and not worry too much about the regular season. While the one seed and top record in the NBA would be great, it is not as important as being fully healthy come playoff time. The last thing this team and the fans need is another potential playoff run tarnished by a Jaylen Brown injury or Robert Williams being in and out of the lineup.