Rather Bucks,Hawks,Heat or Knicks in 1st round

[blink]

Assuming we finish 4th or 5th, I think the more interesting question is who (Sixers, Nets or Bucks) we should want to face in the 2nd round assuming they are all reasonably healthy.

You heard it here first.  We're primed for a major run here and will catch the Bucks for the 3-seed.

TP for the optimism, even though it might be a little over the top.

[blink]

I would prefer to NOT play the Bucks in the first round.   Between the other 3, I am not sure it matters all that much.   I feel like the Heat are the best team of the last 3, but I haven't really seen them play much this year.  Maybe they are what they are?

Just get a 4 or 5 seed and you will avoid the top 3 in the first round, after that you are going to have to go through them anyway, but better to try and get into a playoff groove against NY, Atlanta, or Miami first.

[colincb]

Assuming we finish 4th or 5th, I think the more interesting question is who (Sixers, Nets or Bucks) we should want to face in the 2nd round assuming they are all reasonably healthy.

You heard it here first.  We're primed for a major run here and will catch the Bucks for the 3-seed.

I think we're going to finish strong assuming we can finally shake the injury/COVID issues that have hit us so hard. Nonetheless, catching the Bucks is extremely unlikely. TP for the optimism though.

[colincb]

Toughest schedule remaining according to Tankathon.com: NYK, MIL, ATL, BOS, MIA. ESPN's BPI playoff odds have MIL as 3rd seed by a 6 game margin over BOS in 4th, MIA 5th, ATL 6th, and NY 9th. The difference between BOS, MIA, and ATL is minimal, so any of them could end up 4th through 6th. It seems very unlikely that the NYK will be our match-up, but they would be my top choice to face.

After that, I'd rather play ATL. Young is one of the very worst defenders in the NBA by the numbers and to the eye. MIA next because you don't want to face all three of MIL, BKN, and PHI if you can avoid it. In other words, getting the 4th or 5th seed would be a lot better than the 6th seed. MIA has several players in the rotation who are not having the years they had last year, but they're far scarier than the Hawks, who have little playoff experience.

Overall, I fear BKN the most and MIL the least of the top 3, and I'm not sold on PHI despite our last outing. Embiid is clearly among the very few true MVP candidates, but playoffs are grueling, and he's shown a tendency to fade the longer they go. Also, Ben Simmons at the end of close games is a liability offensively.

[tstorey_97]

You guys have laid it out nicely.

All I can add is this...

Whichever team that Robert Williams III best matches up with.

I don't know if the Celtics can beat the Nets/Philly in the finals, but, they have a shot. Unfortunately Steven's answer for Embiid was the "other" Williams. Grant did ok on Joel, but not championship ok.

[Neurotic Guy]

Is the current run real?  I’m not convinced yet but if the ‘20-21 C’s are actually finding themselves then the sky’s the limit.  This team playing to their max has impressive O and D potential but need to show (which they haven’t) they can play 48 minutes against anyone let alone the powerhouses in the East.

[Moranis]

Toughest schedule remaining according to Tankathon.com: NYK, MIL, ATL, BOS, MIA. ESPN's BPI playoff odds have MIL as 3rd seed by a 6 game margin over BOS in 4th, MIA 5th, ATL 6th, and NY 9th. The difference between BOS, MIA, and ATL is minimal, so any of them could end up 4th through 6th. It seems very unlikely that the NYK will be our match-up, but they would be my top choice to face.

After that, I'd rather play ATL. Young is one of the very worst defenders in the NBA by the numbers and to the eye. MIA next because you don't want to face all three of MIL, BKN, and PHI if you can avoid it. In other words, getting the 4th or 5th seed would be a lot better than the 6th seed. MIA has several players in the rotation who are not having the years they had last year, but they're far scarier than the Hawks, who have little playoff experience.

Overall, I fear BKN the most and MIL the least of the top 3, and I'm not sold on PHI despite our last outing. Embiid is clearly among the very few true MVP candidates, but playoffs are grueling, and he's shown a tendency to fade the longer they go. Also, Ben Simmons at the end of close games is a liability offensively.

I'd honestly rather play Brooklyn than either Milwaukee or Philly.  Brooklyn is a bad defensive team and they have no one that can beat Boston on the interior which is still the teams greatest weakness.  Plus, we still haven't actually seen Brooklyn's big 3 all play together so I do think there is still a chance they implode (maybe not fully, but enough).  There is only 1 basketball and those 3 guys all like the ball in their hand.

[Muzzy66]

Toughest schedule remaining according to Tankathon.com: NYK, MIL, ATL, BOS, MIA. ESPN's BPI playoff odds have MIL as 3rd seed by a 6 game margin over BOS in 4th, MIA 5th, ATL 6th, and NY 9th. The difference between BOS, MIA, and ATL is minimal, so any of them could end up 4th through 6th. It seems very unlikely that the NYK will be our match-up, but they would be my top choice to face.

After that, I'd rather play ATL. Young is one of the very worst defenders in the NBA by the numbers and to the eye. MIA next because you don't want to face all three of MIL, BKN, and PHI if you can avoid it. In other words, getting the 4th or 5th seed would be a lot better than the 6th seed. MIA has several players in the rotation who are not having the years they had last year, but they're far scarier than the Hawks, who have little playoff experience.

Overall, I fear BKN the most and MIL the least of the top 3, and I'm not sold on PHI despite our last outing. Embiid is clearly among the very few true MVP candidates, but playoffs are grueling, and he's shown a tendency to fade the longer they go. Also, Ben Simmons at the end of close games is a liability offensively.

I'd honestly rather play Brooklyn than either Milwaukee or Philly.  Brooklyn is a bad defensive team and they have no one that can beat Boston on the interior which is still the teams greatest weakness.  Plus, we still haven't actually seen Brooklyn's big 3 all play together so I do think there is still a chance they implode (maybe not fully, but enough).  There is only 1 basketball and those 3 guys all like the ball in their hand.

Of those I think I'd rather play Milwaukee. 

Boston has a ton of length they can throw at Giannis, and Rob Williams can even potentially get some time on him.  The Buck's other big men have size but are otherwise pretty unspectacular, which I think Boston's mid season deals help with.  I just don't think the Bucks are as convincing as they were a couple of years ago.

I agree that Brooklyn plays bad defence.  Unfortunately though, when they are healthy they 3 guys who are each capable of scoring 50 on any given night...the Celtics defence has been pretty [dang] bad at times this year as well.  So I'm not sure of going up against Brooklyn is the greatest thing for Boston. 

Philly Is a tough call.  In the past I would have said bring them on, because I look at Embiid, Simmons and Harris and I don't see a single guy among them who has demonstrated the ability to provide consistent buckets or leadership in clutch situations.  But they seem to be a very different team with Doc as coach, so I'm hesitant to underestimate them.

[colincb]

Toughest schedule remaining according to Tankathon.com: NYK, MIL, ATL, BOS, MIA. ESPN's BPI playoff odds have MIL as 3rd seed by a 6 game margin over BOS in 4th, MIA 5th, ATL 6th, and NY 9th. The difference between BOS, MIA, and ATL is minimal, so any of them could end up 4th through 6th. It seems very unlikely that the NYK will be our match-up, but they would be my top choice to face.

After that, I'd rather play ATL. Young is one of the very worst defenders in the NBA by the numbers and to the eye. MIA next because you don't want to face all three of MIL, BKN, and PHI if you can avoid it. In other words, getting the 4th or 5th seed would be a lot better than the 6th seed. MIA has several players in the rotation who are not having the years they had last year, but they're far scarier than the Hawks, who have little playoff experience.

Overall, I fear BKN the most and MIL the least of the top 3, and I'm not sold on PHI despite our last outing. Embiid is clearly among the very few true MVP candidates, but playoffs are grueling, and he's shown a tendency to fade the longer they go. Also, Ben Simmons at the end of close games is a liability offensively.

I'd honestly rather play Brooklyn than either Milwaukee or Philly.  Brooklyn is a bad defensive team and they have no one that can beat Boston on the interior which is still the teams greatest weakness.  Plus, we still haven't actually seen Brooklyn's big 3 all play together so I do think there is still a chance they implode (maybe not fully, but enough).  There is only 1 basketball and those 3 guys all like the ball in their hand.

You'd have a plausible argument if we're talking only about BKN vs PHI, but we're 2-1 vs the Bucks and could have been 3-0 but for Smart going 2-10 from 3 in one of his Edited.  Profanity and masked profanity are against forum rules and may result in discipline. ballgames.

[Moranis]

Toughest schedule remaining according to Tankathon.com: NYK, MIL, ATL, BOS, MIA. ESPN's BPI playoff odds have MIL as 3rd seed by a 6 game margin over BOS in 4th, MIA 5th, ATL 6th, and NY 9th. The difference between BOS, MIA, and ATL is minimal, so any of them could end up 4th through 6th. It seems very unlikely that the NYK will be our match-up, but they would be my top choice to face.

After that, I'd rather play ATL. Young is one of the very worst defenders in the NBA by the numbers and to the eye. MIA next because you don't want to face all three of MIL, BKN, and PHI if you can avoid it. In other words, getting the 4th or 5th seed would be a lot better than the 6th seed. MIA has several players in the rotation who are not having the years they had last year, but they're far scarier than the Hawks, who have little playoff experience.

Overall, I fear BKN the most and MIL the least of the top 3, and I'm not sold on PHI despite our last outing. Embiid is clearly among the very few true MVP candidates, but playoffs are grueling, and he's shown a tendency to fade the longer they go. Also, Ben Simmons at the end of close games is a liability offensively.

I'd honestly rather play Brooklyn than either Milwaukee or Philly.  Brooklyn is a bad defensive team and they have no one that can beat Boston on the interior which is still the teams greatest weakness.  Plus, we still haven't actually seen Brooklyn's big 3 all play together so I do think there is still a chance they implode (maybe not fully, but enough).  There is only 1 basketball and those 3 guys all like the ball in their hand.

You'd have a plausible argument if we're talking only about BKN vs PHI, but we're 2-1 vs the Bucks and could have been 3-0 but for Smart going 2-10 from 3 in one of his Edited for profanity.  Please do not do it again. ballgames.

regular season makes no real difference to post season performance.  I mean just last year Boston was 1-3 against Philly and then swept them and were 2-1 against Miami and lost in 6. 

Playoff Giannis is just a problem for Boston.  We can't guard him.  And I know their record isn't as good as the last couple of years, but I think they actually have a much better playoff level team this year.  They aren't as deep, which hurts the regular season performance, but Holiday is a significantly better 3rd player than they've had and that matters a lot since Giannis is basically the best player on the floor in just about every series they play.  Milwaukee hasn't done as well as their record because Middleton hasn't been a good enough #2 and they haven't had a #3 at all.  Holiday changes that for them. 

I actually expect Milwaukee to come out of the east.  I think they have the most complete team.  I'd put the Sixers as the 2nd most likely because they finally got back to putting shooters around Embiid and Simmons.  A few years back, the Sixers were unbelieveable when Simmons and Embiid were on the floor together because they had 3 elite shooters around them.  They upgraded the talent but downgraded the fit and it showed the last couple of years.  They finally got back to realizing that sometimes lesser players that fit better is the way to go and that is what they did.