If Celtics Want Home-Court, They Face Must-Win In Portland
BOSTON (CBS) -- Unlike their TD Garden roommates, the Celtics are in no real danger of missing the playoffs. But with a pair of tough road games up next and just eight games remaining in the regular season, there's a chance they could miss out on home-court advantage for the first round, which could make all the difference in a very competitive Eastern Conference.
At 43-31 the Celtics currently sit in the fifth seed in the East, half-a-game behind the Miami Heat. They are just half-a-game ahead of the Charlotte Bobcats, and will square off against both teams at TD Garden in the final week of the regular season.
But if Boston can't pull off a win over the Blazers in Portland on Thursday night (it's safe to say they likely won't beat the Warriors, who are 36-0 at home this season, on Friday), those two games may not matter when it comes to the final seeding in the East. Chris Mannix of CSNNE and Yahoo! Sports joined Toucher & Rich on Wednesday, and sees Thursday night's tilt as a must-win if Boston wants any shot at home court.
"They have to find a way to win this game against Portland, because if they don't it might put them in too big of a hole to to get home-court," said Mannix.
The good news is Jae Crowder is returning from a knee injury that sidelined him for two weeks, and even if he's limited on Thursday, will be a big boost to Brad Stevens' squad.
"He won't play 30-35 minutes and be all the way back, but it'll be great for Brad Stevens to finally restore the rotation that has worked for him most of the season," said Mannix. "That means [Marcus] Smart and [Evan] Turner coming off the bench; that was a Top 5 bench in terms of scoring before Crowder went down."
While the focus is on the postseason, it's hard for Celtics fans to not to think of this summer's draft with college basketball's best players in the spotlight during the NCAA tournament. Boston owns Brooklyn's first-round pick (who currently own the fourth-worst record in the NBA), and many green teamers have become enamored with Oklahoma's Buddy Hield. The senior guard has been lighting up the scoreboard for the Sooners, highlighted by a 37-point effort in their Elite Eight win over top-seeded Oregon.
"I've talked to a lot of different people who say he's worked himself into a Top 5 pick. It's not just about the tournament," Mannix said of Hield. "This guy had a fantastic regular season. He improved his shooting percentage by nearly 10 points [to 50 percent] and his three-point percentage by even more [to 47 percent]. He's had a terrific year all around but this tournament has highlighted just how good, offensively, he can be."
Mannix said Hield will probably go in the 5-7 range in the draft, making it likely he'll be around when the Celtics are on the clock. But if that Brooklyn pick isn't somewhere in the Top 3, the Celtics should explore trading it for a proven player.
Mannix dropped one name that will certainly get Celtics fans giddy: Chicago's Jimmy Butler.
"Jimmy Butler and the Bulls, I feel they might be heading for a divorce. Butler makes a lot of money and he's only in the first of a five-year max deal, but if you could find a way to pry Butler away from Chicago – he's 26 and not even in the prime of his career, a two-way player," he said. "If you can trade that pick and young players for Butler, I would do it in a heartbeat."
Mannix also discussed the chances of the Celtics targeting Kevin Love in the offseason, and some locker room trust issues with the Los Angeles Lakers:
