Celtics Can Secure 7th Seed Tuesday Night, But Would 8th Seed Be Better?
BOSTON (CBS) -- The Boston Celtics clinched a postseason berth on Monday night, courtesy of a Bulls win over the Nets, and can now try to pick their poison for the first round of the playoffs.
The Celtics can lock up the seventh seed on Tuesday with a win over the Toronto Raptors in their final home game of the regular season, or an Indiana loss to Washington. Both teams also play on Wednesday.
Read: Celtics-Raptors Preview
But, with the seventh seed comes a first round matchup with LeBron James and the Cleveland Cavaliers. Boston split their season series with the Cavs, 2-2, but both wins came when Cleveland was resting their stars for the upcoming playoffs. In their two losses to the Cavaliers this season, the Celtics blew a 19-point fourth quarter lead in Boston and suffered their worst loss of the year in Cleveland.
Or, the Celtics could lose the final two games of the season, hope the Indiana Pacers win both, and fall into the eighth seed (Boston owns the tiebreaker over the Pacers). That would set up a meeting up with the top-seeded Atlanta Hawks in the first round.
The Hawks are the only team in the Eastern Conference to win 60 games, and took three of four games from Boston this season. That series is not a dream matchup for Boston either, but not having to face James, Kyrie Irving and Kevin Love could mean another game (maybe even two) in Boston's postseason run.
However, Brad Stevens and his Celtics don't come off as the kind of team who would lose games on purpose in the hopes of a (slightly) more favorable playoff matchup. The 38-42 Celtics have battled adversity all season long (with 11 trades and 41 different players on the roster throughout the campaign) to get where they are. Their 22 wins since February 3, tied for the third-most in the league in that span, prove that they come to play every night, so don't expect anything less than a full effort Tuesday against Toronto and Wednesday in Milwaukee.
So in all likelihood, get ready for Celtics-Cavaliers in the first round. It might not be pretty, but at least we'll know the Celtics will give it their best effort every night.
Zolak and Bertrand discuss potential playoff matchups for the Celtics with The Boston Globe's Dan Shaughnessy: