What's Your Preferred East Playoff Seedings?

[jpotter33]

Here's where we are after tonight's win against Milwaukee:

1) Boston: 55-14; 0 GB (Remaining SOS Difficult - 30th)
2) Milwaukee: 44-25; 11 GB (Remaining SOS Difficult - 9th)
3) Cleveland: 43-26; 12 GB (Remaining SOS Difficult - 21st)
4) NYK: 41-27; 13.5 GB (Remaining SOS Difficult - 16th)
5) Orlando: 41-28; 14 GB (Remaining SOS Difficult - 12th)
6) Philadelphia: 38-30; 16.5 GB (Remaining SOS Difficult - 17th)

7) Indiana: 39-31; 16.5 GB (Remaining SOS Difficult - 13th)
Miami: 38-31; 17GB (Remaining SOS Difficult - 28th)
9) Chicago: 34-35; 21 GB (Remaining SOS Difficult - 22nd)
10) Atlanta: 30-38; 24 GB (Remaining SOS Difficult - 10th)

So what seedings would you like to see? There's still a lot of variability given how bunched up everyone is with some varying levels of strength of schedule, so I'll put the matchups I'd most like to see.

First Round:

(a) Milwaukee versus one of Miami or Philly (with Embiid back) - obvious reasons why. Gives Milwaukee a really tough first round that has major upset potential. It also would keep both of those teams on the other side of our bracket with Milwaukee likely being 2 or 3. Ideally Milwaukee would land at 3, Miami at 6, and then Philly at 7, though I could see Philly with a healthy Embiid and Maxey being just as good of a chance as knocking off Milwaukee.

(b) Boston versus Chicago or Indiana in the first round - these are probably our two easiest draws in the first round with Atlanta being very unlikely to advance in the play-in, though I could see Chicago playing their way to 8th. We have significant advantages on both teams, particularly with Indy/Haliburton not being anywhere near as good post Haliburton's injury.

(c) Orlando hosting one of NYK or Cleveland (preferable) in the 4/5 matchup - gives Orlando a decent shot at beating either of these teams. We should win any of these series in the second round, but I think Orlando is a step below both teams and still really inexperienced. Also, both NYK and Cleveland will be knockdown, physical defensive series, which increases wear and injury risk on the guys.

[Celtic Fan Forever]

We’re pretty much guaranteed the 1 seed barring something catastrophic, so I’d want the 8th seed to be Indiana, Atlanta, or Chicago.

2 and 3 Bucks and Cavs either order. Make them play each other and avoid either of them until the ECF. Philly and Miami some order for 6 and 7 so Bucks and Cavs have tough first round matchups.

Then Orlando and NYK as 4/5- I think both are much better matchups for us than Cleveland or the Bucks and should (in theory) be a faster series win for us so we’re not worn out by the conference finals again.

[Who]

Indy are tough. I would want to avoid them. They are an up and down team but when they are up they can beat almost anyone. They would be a threat to take 2-3 games of any top seed with that offense clicking.

The other three teams are all much much weaker than Indy. Miami are somewhat of a threat. The other two (Chicago, Atlanta) are no threat at all. Miami are still trying to find their way. Indy I would put on a higher tier of threat than any of the four.

I don't see much difference between playing Indiana in a playoff series and playing any of the top 4/5 seeds in a playoff series. I consider them on the same level. In fact, I consider Milwaukee to be the weakest of all of those teams including Indiana.

[SparzWizard]

1 seed at this point. Otherwise 4th seed lol. Avoid Milwaukee and Cleveland till the ECF. We're bound to face the Knicks or Magic so let's get that out the way. As for the 8th seed, hope no more Miami. They're a team that's basically a party killer. And I don't want Nick Nurse's 76ers either, esp when Embiid comes back. Give me Chicago or Atlanta.

Pacers have been an inconsistent team...don't seem to be as threatening. I'd rank Orlando as bigger threat than Indy.

[ozgod]

So the two teams that are our bogey teams are at 7 and 8 in Indy and Miami  Gonna be a nervewracking first round matchup against either of them even though on paper you'd say we should win 4-0...unfortunately for us games aren't played on paper 

That said, I don't care who they play. To be the best you have to beat whoever is in front of you, whether that's Milwaukee, Indy, Miami, Denver or whoever else. There's value to being battle tested going thru the playoffs than beating tomato cans and then getting a rude shock at playing a team in the Finals that's several calibers above who you've played so far.

[Kernewek]

We’re pretty much guaranteed the 1 seed barring something catastrophic, so I’d want the 8th seed to be Indiana, Atlanta, or Chicago.

2 and 3 Bucks and Cavs either order. Make them play each other and avoid either of them until the ECF. Philly and Miami some order for 6 and 7 so Bucks and Cavs have tough first round matchups.

Then Orlando and NYK as 4/5- I think both are much better matchups for us than Cleveland or the Bucks and should (in theory) be a faster series win for us so we’re not worn out by the conference finals again.

I agree with this, I think, but I also wouldn't be surprised if, should this play out, Orlando/NY took us to 6-7 games.

[Moranis]

It should not matter. Boston is best team in East.

[celticinorlando]

My preferred:

1. Boston
2. Bucks
3. Cavs
4. Knicks
5. Magic
6. Pacers
7. Heat
8. Bulls or Phill without Embiid

I want to see the Heat and Bucks eat each other round one and one of the teams put out on the street as soon as the playoffs start.

Cavs are dying quickly and I think the Pacers win that series

[jpotter33]

So the two teams that are our bogey teams are at 7 and 8 in Indy and Miami  Gonna be a nervewracking first round matchup against either of them even though on paper you'd say we should win 4-0...unfortunately for us games aren't played on paper 

That said, I don't care who they play. To be the best you have to beat whoever is in front of you, whether that's Milwaukee, Indy, Miami, Denver or whoever else. There's value to being battle tested going thru the playoffs than beating tomato cans and then getting a rude shock at playing a team in the Finals that's several calibers above who you've played so far.

Eh, I think Indy peaked early and hasn’t been the same since. Halliburton has been a shell of himself the last few months, which has really brought their level down. Also, we still have to see how their “all offense/no defense” approach fares in the playoffs. When the game slows down, I think that also takes away some of their advantage.

[Phantom255x]

My ideal preference is Chicago or Atlanta first round, then one of NY/ORL, then whoever in the ECF (at that point who cares, the "Final 4" is usually the 3 or 4 best anyways, gotta beat them to earn it regardless whether it's MIL/MIA/CLE).

I would love to see MIL and CLE battle PHI and MIA along the way in some form and "cannibalize each other" before the ECF. Those 4 are probably the biggest threats I view in the East, so hope we can avoid them until the ECF.

Ultimately, I would hope MIA or PHI can pass IND and push IND to the 7-8 range, and then CLE can pass MIL for the 2 seed again. Indiana would be a tricky first round series but I'd still much rather them than Miami or Philly IF Embiid's back.

[bdm860]

First Round:

(a) Milwaukee versus one of Miami or Philly (with Embiid back) - obvious reasons why. Gives Milwaukee a really tough first round that has major upset potential. It also would keep both of those teams on the other side of our bracket with Milwaukee likely being 2 or 3. Ideally Milwaukee would land at 3, Miami at 6, and then Philly at 7, though I could see Philly with a healthy Embiid and Maxey being just as good of a chance as knocking off Milwaukee.

I can't believe both Giannis and Embiid, who have both been in the East their whole careers, and who have both been perennial MVP candidates and their teams contenders for the last 5 years, have yet to match up in the playoffs.  I've been waiting a long time for this match up.

As an NBA fan, I'd rather see this match up in the 2nd round.  I don't want it cheapened with a less-than-100%, not-playoff-ready Embiid.  Give Embiid the 1st round to help him ramp back up.

As a Celtics fan, and assuming one of them advances to the ECF, I wouldn't mind seeing this in the 1st round to make the road as tough as possible.

Either way, I'm expecting Milwaukee to advance to the ECF, so I'm hoping they fall from 2 to 3, just to make the likely potential match up with the Cavs in Round 2 that much more difficult for them.


And maybe it's the Kool-Aid talking, but I would love for Miami to finish 7th, fall to 8th via the play-in, hear Miami fans talk trash (they wanted to be 8th because they  know they can beat the C's!), and then have the C's curb stomp them in Round 1 with a dominate sweep (and put an end to all the "we have the most playoff wins since 2020" talk).  I'm not scared of Miami, and this match up would hopefully keep the C's dialed in throughout (and not let a lesser team steal a couple of games, like with Atlanta last year).

[Donoghus]

And maybe it's the Kool-Aid talking, but I would love for Miami to finish 7th, fall to 8th via the play-in, hear Miami fans talk trash (they wanted to be 8th because they  know they can beat the C's!), and then  have the C's curb stomp them in Round 1 with a dominate sweep (and put an end to all the "we have the most playoff wins since 2020" talk).  I'm not scared of Miami, and this match up would hopefully keep the C's dialed in throughout (and not let a lesser team steal a couple of games, like with Atlanta last year).

Same.  Blasting thru the Heat would be such a satisfying experience.

Shutting up their extremely annoying fanbase as well as showing that the boogeyman threat on these boards was a nothing burger.

Certainly would be more satisfying going thru Miami on their way to banner 18. 

[keevsnick]

I don't care, the Celtics should beat anybody/everybody in the east this year.

From a pure entertainment perspective I'd like to play the Pacers because I think those games would be more high scoring and hence entertaining.

From a pure revenge perspective I want Miami becasue i think the c's would destroy that team this year.

[bdm860]

I don't care, the Celtics should beat anybody/everybody in the east this year.

From a pure entertainment perspective I'd like to play the Pacers because I think those games would be more high scoring and hence entertaining.

From a pure revenge perspective I want Miami becasue i think the c's would destroy that team this year.

When the playoffs start, it will be 4 1/2 months since they last played, but the Milwaukee/Indiana regular season/in-season tournament games were pretty good and got pretty chippy.  Would love to see that match-up rekindled in Round 1.

My fantasy booking (done half as a C's fan, half as an NBA fan) would be:


Round 1
1/8 Celtics/Heat = C's sweep.
4/5 don't care = Knicks win to set up Boston/NY rivalry in Round 2

2/7 Cavs/Sixers = Sixers in 4 or 5 (no offense to Cavs, but setting up "the Sixers are back" hype train for match-up with Bucks)
3/6 Bucks/Pacers = 7 game slugfest, Bucks win


Round 2
Celtics/Knicks = C's sweep
3/7 Bucks/Sixers = another 7 game slugfest, Bucks win (because I love to laugh at the Process yet again failing to make it out of the 2nd round).


ECF
Celtics/Bucks = C's sweep

[jpotter33]

I don't care, the Celtics should beat anybody/everybody in the east this year.

From a pure entertainment perspective I'd like to play the Pacers because I think those games would be more high scoring and hence entertaining.

From a pure revenge perspective I want Miami becasue i think the c's would destroy that team this year.

When the playoffs start, it will be 4 1/2 months since they last played, but the Milwaukee/Indiana regular season/in-season tournament games were pretty good and got pretty chippy.  Would love to see that match-up rekindled in Round 1.

My fantasy booking (done half as a C's fan, half as an NBA fan) would be:


Round 1
1/8 Celtics/Heat = C's sweep.
4/5 don't care = Knicks win to set up Boston/NY rivalry in Round 2

2/7 Cavs/Sixers = Sixers in 4 or 5 (no offense to Cavs, but setting up "the Sixers are back" hype train for match-up with Bucks)
3/6 Bucks/Pacers = 7 game slugfest, Bucks win


Round 2
Celtics/Knicks = C's sweep
3/7 Bucks/Sixers = another 7 game slugfest, Bucks win (because I love to laugh at the Process yet again failing to make it out of the 2nd round).


ECF
Celtics/Bucks = C's sweep

I think you’re sleeping on the Knicks a bit if healthy, which I know is a big question mark at this point. We should definitely beat them, but they wouldn’t make it easy with how good and physical they are defensively. They also can expose us on the offensive boards, which we’ve had a problem with lately.