Breaking News:Denver Nuggets official confirm the signing of young talented prospect
Well folks, we’ve just about made it to the end of the NBA regular season, and the Boston Celtics are cruising to the finish line with a chance to clinch the top overall seed after locking up the East.
Right now, the Thunder, Nuggets and Timberwolves all have 22 losses. Barring those three teams losing a few games and making it easier for the Celtics, Boston simply needs to win four more games. That’s it. A record of 4-6 over their last 10 games would guarantee homecourt advantage throughout the playoffs.
Going into Monday’s matchup in Atlanta, Boston had locked up the Eastern Conference with nearly three weeks left to go in the regular season; their final game of the season is against the Washington Wizards on April 14th. After so much talk about not being complacent during the lulls of the regular season back in January, this Celtics team has carved their way through the competition and locked up the conference with plenty of time to spare. While Boston should want to close out the season on a high note and playing well, they’ve earned their hall pass.
This wasn’t a schematic issue, or some great systemic failure from the Celtics. There isn’t some hyper-analytical, big-brained answer to why Boston blew the lead; no, they don’t need to run new actions or playsets late in game. We’re talking about the 57-15 Celtics, a historically-great team, and easily the best team Boston has had since their title run in 2008. If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it. We don’t collectively need to go back to formula or reinvent the wheel here after sleepwalking through a meltdown. Sometimes, things simply water down to effort, and from a Celtics standpoint, it’s understandable why it was lacking in ATL.
For a team that’s a league-best 32-3 at home and an eye-popping 38-8 record against their conference, homecourt for Boston in any potential Finals matchup could be crucial. That’s the only context where Monday’s loss to the Hawks hurts, simply because it’s another game that the Celtics need to win in order to officially shift into cruise control for the next few weeks before the postseason. After navigating injuries and rest days for the past month or so, Boston has a chance to put the regular season to bed and give their starters some R&R.
The last remaining bastion of motivation for Boston has to be locking up the top seed in the entire league, a feat that’s very much on the table for them. With the Denver Nuggets and Oklahoma City Thunder losing on Wednesday, things become a lot clearer on the Celtics front. Before their matchup tonight in Atlanta, Boston will have ten games remaining, with 72 games under their belt. After tonight, they will have the same amount of games remaining as Denver.