A humorous playoff opportunity is percolating for Bruins, Celtics this spring

BOSTON -- There was a time in recent history when outsiders could accuse Bostonians of being a bit arrogant in the sports world. The reputation was mostly well-deserved.

Now, though, times have changed. A Boston/New England team hasn't won a title in 1,522 days, and the local hubris has evaporated and given way to a healthy respect for the difficulty of making it through a postseason as the best team in the land.

That preamble is meant to say this: Don't take the following statement as anything but a statement of fact. That fact is this:

The Bruins and Celtics have the chance to work in concert to produce a very, very funny result in the second round of their respective postseasons.

It was a thought you couldn't help but ponder on Tuesday night, when the 76ers somehow managed to almost blow a seven-point lead in the final nine seconds of their game against the Celtics. And it's one that's sure to pop up a time or two on Thursday night, when the Bruins host the Toronto Maple Leafs.

The thought is ... what if the 76ers win their first-round series (very likely), and what if the Maple Leafs win their first-round series (less likely), thus leading to a boosted sense of enthusiasm and confidence in both markets, thus elevating championship expectations ... only for a nemesis in Boston to come and stomp those hopes and dreams with no sympathy?

Come on, now. That would be funny.

The Bruins and Celtics have obviously been the bugaboos of the Maple Leafs and Sixers for some time now, as Boston has stood in the way of potential title runs for those two teams with rabid fan bases.

For the Leafs, it's just been brutal. Toronto hasn't advanced past the second round since 2004. Auston Matthews was 6 years old at the time. It was a while ago.

But the Leafs had a primo opportunity to reach the second round in 2013, when they led 4-1 in the third period of Game 7 in Boston. But, well, we know how that one ended.

Hilarious.

Unfortunately for Toronto, that was really just the beginning of Boston's tormenting. After the Leafs bowed out in the first round vs. Washington in 2017, the Bruins ended the Leafs' run in the first round in 2018 ... in seven games. The Leafs got another crack at Boston in the first round in 2019 ... but lost. In seven games. Toronto has since made the playoffs three times, failing to get past the first round in the past three years.

It's a bit tragic, really.

But, this year's Maple Leafs team is better. They're legitimately good.

Mitch Marner's approaching a career high in points, William Nylander has already hit his, and though Matthews is nowhere near reaching last year's absurd numbers (60 goals in 73 games), he's still Auston Matthews. Now with a real goalie in Ilya Samsonov, the Leafs have a real, legitimate chance of winning a playoff series.

And if they do win a playoff series, it'll come against the mighty Tampa Bay Lightning, who have not only dominated the league for the past four years but also wiped out Toronto in the first round a year ago. Toronto could get revenge, and the spirits would be insanely high on the ice and throughout Ontario if the Leafs could win that series vs. Tampa.

Which would make it even more hysterical if the Bruins then immediately took them out in the second round. (Sorry, tragedies are funny sometimes.)

With the 76ers, it's maybe not quite as personal when it comes to Boston in recent years. Still, the Celtics ended Philly's postseason runs in 2018 and in 2020, first in a five-game affair, then in a sweep. (The New Big Three Celtics also beat the Sixers in Game 7 in the second round in 2012.)

This year, Boston is 3-1 vs. the Sixers, with Philly's lone win coming Tuesday when the Celtics had nothing to play for and were without Jaylen Brown and Rob Williams but still almost fell into a victory. There were shades of the premature confetti game from the 2018 playoffs coming back to the surface.

Tuesday's game marked, in Doc Rivers' estimation, the end of this year's MVP race, as Joel Embiid is finally ready to take home his first MVP trophy.

Yet even in victory, Embiid -- who's no doubt sustained some internal damage from the Sixers' failure to get past the second round during his entire career -- couldn't even soak in many positive feelings after the win.

"We understand we got a chance, but it's not going to be easy. Tonight, for me, was kind of disappointing because we found so many ways to lose the game, and that's on all of us," Embiid said. "I'm part of it. I could've been better. You know, I had a couple of dumb plays. ... I could've been better, and we could've been better as a team. Like I said, we got bigger goals in mind, but we got to be better than that."

Embiid knows. He's lived it too many times. Philly has lost in the second round in four of the last five years, with the lone outlier being the sweep by the Celtics in the bubble. As a franchise, the Sixers haven't made it past the second round since 2001. Prior to that, it was 1985. For as rich as Philadelphia is in basketball history, it's been a long, long time since the glory days.

And while the Sixers should handle the Nets or Heat (we think) in the first round, it can't feel great to know the Celtics will (almost certainly) be waiting for them in the second round.

As stories go, Embiid is probably more on the sympathetic end, because he's as likable a superstar as there is in sports. But, well, people can't choose their destinies. And if the Sixers run into a Celtics team that's humming at full power, we all kind of know how that one ends, don't we?

To be honest, I don't know how much humor the rest of the country would derive from the Bruins beating the Maple Leafs (after Toronto reaches its highest peak in 19 years) and the Celtics beating the Sixers (when Philly has its highest title hopes since the days of Allen Iverson). The country at large tends to root against Boston at all times and for players like Embiid. But as far as tragic comedies in sports go, that would be about as good as it gets for anyone who enjoys real-life drama that is almost too crazy to be true.

And while the Boston area may be in "championship or bust" mode for both winter teams, a second-round pit stop could at least provide some comic relief during what is sure to be a stressful journey.

You can email Michael Hurley or find him on Twitter @michaelFhurley.