Celtics Are In For A Wild Night Of Scoreboard Watching
BOSTON (CBS) -- The Celtics host the Brooklyn Nets in their regular season finale on Wednesday night, but other than the chance to screw the Cleveland Cavaliers out of a few ping pong balls, there is very little riding on the game.
Boston's attention will likely be on the scoreboard and not the Nets on Wednesday night, as their first-round opponent is still up in the air with just a few hours left in the regular season.
The 2-seeded Celtics still have three potential foes to open the postseason -- the Milwaukee Bucks, Miami Heat and Washington Wizards -- with all three teams in action on Wednesday night. The Celtics lost to the Wizards on Tuesday night, so there are eight potential scenarios when it comes to whom the Celtics will be playing in the first-round. That included two where Washington could jump into the 7-seed and square off with Boston in a rematch of last season's Eastern Conference Semifinals.
The Bucks are in Philadelphia and will take on a 76ers team still looking to lock up the Eastern Conference's 3-seed. The Heat host the Toronto Raptors, who have nothing to play for on Wednesday. The Wizards visit the Orlando Magic, a team that wouldn't mind adding another loss to their record to help their chances in this year's draft lottery.
Miami remains the likely opponent for Boston, but as we learned a few years ago, the standings can shuffle quite a bit on the final day of the season. Here are the eight scenarios the Celtics will be keeping an eye on as the regular season comes to a close:
Boston Will Play Miami If...
Bucks Win + Wizards Win + Heat Win
Bucks Win + Wizards Lose + Heat Win
Bucks Win + Wizards Lose + Heat Lose
Bucks Lose + Wizards Lose + Heat Lose
Boston Will Play Milwaukee If...
Bucks Lose + Wizards Lose + Miami Win
Bucks Lose + Wizards Win + Heat Lose
Boston Will Play Washington If...
Bucks Win + Wizards Win + Heat Lose
Bucks Lose + Wizards Win + Heat Win
So get your popcorn, remote control and whatever device you use to keep tabs on the NBA's slate of games ready, because we're in for a wild one on Wednesday night.