Why the Boston Celtics don’t need the No. 1 seed in the playoffs
The Boston Celtics have fallen several games behind the Bucks in the Eastern Conference in a tight race for the No. 1 seed. In the past ten games as of March 10, Boston is a measly 5-5 while the Bucks have gone 9-1.
If the NBA Playoffs were to start today, Boston would be locked in as the No. 2 seed, and I’d be okay with that.
Obviously, I want the Cs to take the number one seed and go through the playoffs with home court advantage every round, but as we saw last year, Boston can go into a hostile environment for a Game 7 and come out on top.
The Celtics have had a rough stretch the past couple of games and everyone, especially the Boston media has been going insane about it. Yeah, they haven’t looked great. Yeah, they’ve blown some leads late in games.
They’re still the Boston Celtics team that they were when they started the year on fire, the same team with as much depth as anyone in the league, maybe the deepest team. We have two players who should be considered for Sixth Man of the Year in Malcom Brogdon and Derrick White and we have another guard just stored away who could be balling with another team in Payton Pritchard.
I’m not trying to sunshine pump with this Celtics team, but I feel recency bias is killing the narrative on this strong Boston team.
No, Grant Williams hasn’t been performing like we thought he would but he’s going to bounce back. In what is most likely his last year in Boston, you don’t think Williams is going to want to win a championship before he goes to a team that won’t be as well put together as Boston?
This is a Boston Celtics team that took the Milwaukee Bucks to overtime while down four starters just under a month ago. A Boston Celtics team that was two games away from winning their first NBA championship in over a decade.
The Boston Celtics should still be favored in the east
Last year, there were questions whether Boston was ducking the Brooklyn Nets so they didn’t have to face them in the first round (we all know how that went). Obviously they weren’t ducking any team because they knew they were the best team in the East and I don’t think this season is anything different.
Giannis Antetokounmpo is a front runner for the MVP trophy (even though I think Jokic is going to win it) and he has an amazing supporting cast in Jrue Holiday, Khris Middleton, and Brook Lopez. Not to mention I personally like their acquisition of Jae Crowder from the Phoenix Suns.
But with all that said, I’m still taking the Celtics in a seven games series, whether Boston has the home court advantage or not.
The Boston Celtics have 15 more games left in the regular season and whether they’re the No. 1, No. 2, or even No. 3 seed, I like them against anyone in the East.