Should the Cs lose Wednesday and take the 3 seed?

[hpantazo]

NO.

But the more appropriate question is, coming down the wire, if by resting key players and losing games we could become the third seed and force a match-up between Orlando with Detroit, would you do it?

There are certain match-ups that just don't work well for certain teams, and Detroit has been Orlando's kryptonite!  Arugment being, you let those two beat each other up before (assuming Boston advances) you play either team.

although I agree with not throwing away games, this would actually work out well. Detroit would eliminate the magic in the first round, and then we would get home court against the pistons in round 2. Problem is we can't afford to rest guys now, we have to get our main unit accustomed to playing with marbury and moore

[Ersatz]

And it's not about who had the better regular season. All that matters is the head-to-head matchup in a best-of-seven series.

Indeed. And interestingly--to me at least--the Cavs, I think, have tougher matchup problems against more teams than the Celtics. For the Celtics, it's pretty much Atlanta, but for the Cavs, the Pistons, the Bulls, and the Hawks all create difficult matchups. Not saying that any of those teams would actually beat the Cavs in a seven-game series, but they pose problems teams like Miami and Philadelphia don't.

[Cman]

My fervent (and delusional) hope is that the teams fighting for the 5th-8th spots remember how gracious the Celtics have been compared to the other top teams. Let me see they’ve lost to the Heat, Pistons, Bulls, Bobcats, Bucks, Knicks, and Pacers. How better to say thanks for giving us one in the W column for the playoff push than rolling over and helping the Cs cruise to the next round? 

That was pretty funny (if delusional).  Thanks and TP for you!