I understand the frustration, but hopefully the Cs use it as fuel.
There are always going to be "alternative storylines" that people can focus on. If the Cs get to the Finals against a Paul-less Rockets team and win, some people will attribute that to the Rockets missing Paul; if the Cs lose, it'll be about how awesome the Rockets are to overcome the loss of Paul. Likewise, if the Cs get to face the Warriors and win, it'll probably be because Curry's hobbled or Iggy's hobbled or some such thing; and it the Cs lose, we'll have to go through yet another offseason hearing about how wonderful the Warriors are.
But if Boston somehow manages to win No. 18 this season, all this stuff will be irrelevant to me—it's not as if Boston will have had a cakewalk to the title, what with missing its two best players and having to go through so many media darlings (Giannis, Embiid, Simmons, LeBron, Harden/Durant, Curry).