Celtics postseason scenarios: Breaking down Boston’s playoff picture post-Heat loss
Whether you’re adept at understanding how the NBA’s new play-in game affects the Boston Celtics’ postseason picture or totally clueless how this new wrinkle shakes up the usual way the playoffs go down, we think we can help make understanding exactly what the Celtics are looking at in this new end-of-season series designed to help make Boston’s seeding make sense.
With each win or loss potentially critical for where the Celtics will finish their season — and with it, who they will face and in what format come the postseason — we’ve put together this guide to help you make sense of Boston’s postseason situation on a game-to-game basis-
After the loss to the Miami Heat, the Celtics’ postseason picture has really taken a turn for the worse, but let’s dive into what exactly the play-in tournament does first.
Celtics fall behind early, fail to come back to lose 130 – 124 to Heat at TD Garden https://t.co/vAtjpc6HDC
— The Celtics Wire (@TheCelticsWire) May 9, 2021
The new format forces the teams in seventh and eighth place at the end of the season to fight to keep their postseason berths alive by having to defeat teams in the ninth and tenth-place positions at season's end. We'll give you an example of how that could play out by using the remaining schedule and current standings as an example. https://twitter.com/TheCelticsWire/status/1391785744327401472?s=20
Next game: Vs. Heat, Tuesday, May 11 Games remaining in the regular season: 4 Remaining schedule:
May 11: Heat (Sixth in East), 7:30 p.m. ET
May 12: Cavaliers (14th in East), 8 p.m. ET
May 15: Timberwolves (13th in West), TBD
May 16: Knicks (Fourth in East), TBD
https://twitter.com/TheCelticsWire/status/1391800224096604169?s=20
The current standings:
4 - New York Knicks (38 - 30) - 9 games back
5 - Atlanta Hawks (37 - 31) - 10 games back
6 - Miami Heat (37 - 31) - 10 games back
7 - Boston Celtics (35 - 33) - 12 games back
8 - Charlotte Hornets (33 - 35) - 14 games back
9 - Washington Wizards (32 - 36) - 15 games back
10 - Indiana Pacers (31 - 36) - 15.5 games back
11 - Chicago Bulls (29 - 39) - 18 games back
https://twitter.com/TheCelticsWire/status/1391809493076488192?s=20
Playoff opponents if season ended today: With the Celtics in the No. 7 slot, they would have a one-game playoff with the No. 8 seed -- at this moment, the Charlotte Hornets. If they won, they would face the No. 2 seed in the first round of the playoffs, currently the Brooklyn Nets. If they lost that game, they would face the winner of a single-game playoff between the Nos. 9 and 10 teams in the standings at seasons end, which would be either the Washington Wizards or Indiana Pacers respectively if the season ended today. This post originally appeared on Celtics Wire. Follow us on Facebook! [lawrence-related id=50154,50138,50118,50073] [listicle id=50157]
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