I think Celtics are better at the 3rd seed

[greenpride32]

I don't care so much about the first round opponent.  But when you start dealing with a road path of MIA CHI LAL that looks pretty daunting. 

If you look at last year we essentially had that same path only it was ORL CLE LAL and we ran out of gas.  You can argue this year's MIA and CHI are better versions of last year's ORL and CLE teams.

[Chris]

I don't care so much about the first round opponent.  But when you start dealing with a road path of MIA CHI LAL that looks pretty daunting. 

If you look at last year we essentially had that same path only it was ORL CLE LAL and we ran out of gas.  You can argue this year's MIA and CHI are better versions of last year's ORL and CLE teams.

This is true.  But the C's are also significantly deeper (assuming reasonable health at the center spot) than last year.  Last year, the only perimeter player that consistently got minutes off the bench in the playoffs was Tony Allen.  This year both West and Green are looking to be playing major minutes to take some of the load off Rondo, Pierce, and Ray. 

[greenpride32]

I don't care so much about the first round opponent.  But when you start dealing with a road path of MIA CHI LAL that looks pretty daunting. 

If you look at last year we essentially had that same path only it was ORL CLE LAL and we ran out of gas.  You can argue this year's MIA and CHI are better versions of last year's ORL and CLE teams.

This is true.  But the C's are also significantly deeper (assuming reasonable health at the center spot) than last year.  Last year, the only perimeter player that consistently got minutes off the bench in the playoffs was Tony Allen.  This year both West and Green are looking to be playing major minutes to take some of the load off Rondo, Pierce, and Ray. 

We're basically playing for the 2 seed now which would be  huge.  It's the same path but we have HCA against MIA.

You can look into the past and find examples of the C's coming out on top without HCA or losing it during the series and still coming out on top.  But to simply expect that is simply too much.  Let's just put it this way, you would expect the C's to win against all the top teams with HCA right?  An impartial party would expect other top tier (read non-Celtics teams) to also win their series with HCA.

Not saying it's mission impossible; but it's a whole lot tougher than you'd want.  Also I don't have the exact statistic, but the team with HCA in the Finals has won a very high percentage of the series played.

[celticinorlando]

they need to be the 2 seed. no lower

[Tai]

I know we will win either series against Philly or NY but I don't think Philly can beat Miami and I think NY can. I also think NY believes that they can beat Miami but not so much us.

Melo relishes matchups with LeBron while Igoudala seems in awe of him. Amare hates the Heat you can tell and he owns Bosh. Billups is the x factor just like in their only game they played after the trade in which NY beat Miami in Miami. He will kill Bibby.

Wade will be tough but Landry Jones is a good role player type to keep him honest.

I think NY will get up to play Miami more then any other opponent and the Garden might be too much for the Heat in a close game. I could see the Heat folding away from Miami and being down 3-1 if they drop one in Miami.

Basically I think it's best if we get Philly and Miami gets NY, especially if we win sunday.

If the Miami Heat are anything close to legitimate, they'll step it up in the playoffs and beat NY. Miami's a much better defensive team than NY, and yet every bit as good an offensive team as NY. Even if people say they can't trust Miami to do  anything in the playoffs, I can't trust NY, either.

[mc34]

The main reason you're saying we should get the 3 seed is because you'd rather play NY than Philly right? There's no guarantee that Philly finishes as the 6 and NY finishes as the 7. If we beat Philly and NY beats Toronto tonight (not a stretch by any means), the Knicks are only 1 game behind with a head to head on Wednesday night. Not to mention 4 or so games after that

Actually, its the opposite. I rather Celtics get Philly in the 1st round. They have been playing better recently, but the Celtics would be able to beat them easier. Knicks at the 7 seed have the ability to upset the Heat, they have the weapons

Oh, gotcha. Well either way we don't know who's getting the 6 or 7 seed. By the way, while we're talking about depth and our playoff run last year, I think a huge part of why we lost last year is because Rondo had no real backup last year. Wasn't he playing over 40 minutes in almost every game in the playoffs? The guy looked completely gassed during the Lakers series. If Delonte can stay healthy and effective, that's a huge plus for us.

[European NBA fan]

You can look into the past and find examples of the C's coming out on top without HCA or losing it during the series and still coming out on top.  But to simply expect that is simply too much.  Let's just put it this way, you would expect the C's to win against all the top teams with HCA right?  An impartial party would expect other top tier (read non-Celtics teams) to also win their series with HCA.

Not saying it's mission impossible; but it's a whole lot tougher than you'd want.  Also I don't have the exact statistic, but the team with HCA in the Finals has won a very high percentage of the series played.

The basics is that the best teams usually have the better records, too. This year, it's a bit more complicated. Both in the east and the west the teams are very close, and even a small stretch of bad basketball can lead to a lower seed, that doesn't show the team's real strength. The Spurs and the Bulls are simply the teams with the shortest bad stretches this season.

My opinion is that it's not enough to be the best team, and besides "luck with the refs"(=HCA), you need versatility in matchups. The Celtics have the pieces, but so do the Lakers, Spurs, Bulls, Thunder, Nuggets and the 76ers.

The Knicks, Mavs, Magic and Heat are dangerous, too. But to me these teams will win or die by their own strengths and weaknesses, and they are more likely to end their run in a bad matchup.

[OsirusCeltics]

The main reason you're saying we should get the 3 seed is because you'd rather play NY than Philly right? There's no guarantee that Philly finishes as the 6 and NY finishes as the 7. If we beat Philly and NY beats Toronto tonight (not a stretch by any means), the Knicks are only 1 game behind with a head to head on Wednesday night. Not to mention 4 or so games after that

Actually, its the opposite. I rather Celtics get Philly in the 1st round. They have been playing better recently, but the Celtics would be able to beat them easier. Knicks at the 7 seed have the ability to upset the Heat, they have the weapons

Oh, gotcha. Well either way we don't know who's getting the 6 or 7 seed. By the way, while we're talking about depth and our playoff run last year, I think a huge part of why we lost last year is because Rondo had no real backup last year. Wasn't he playing over 40 minutes in almost every game in the playoffs? The guy looked completely gassed during the Lakers series. If Delonte can stay healthy and effective, that's a huge plus for us.

Yes, that is very true. I think most of the reason why Celtics lost last year was because there was basically no bench. I remember seeing after game 4 of the ECF against the Magic, most of the Celtics slumping from exhaustion. And it was also bad that they had another round to play, which was the Finals. I think the bench for a team is so underrated. With Delonte, Arroyo, Green, Murphy, Kritic, and JO now on board, the Celtics would have plenty of energy left to go very far in the playoffs

[mc34]

The main reason you're saying we should get the 3 seed is because you'd rather play NY than Philly right? There's no guarantee that Philly finishes as the 6 and NY finishes as the 7. If we beat Philly and NY beats Toronto tonight (not a stretch by any means), the Knicks are only 1 game behind with a head to head on Wednesday night. Not to mention 4 or so games after that

Actually, its the opposite. I rather Celtics get Philly in the 1st round. They have been playing better recently, but the Celtics would be able to beat them easier. Knicks at the 7 seed have the ability to upset the Heat, they have the weapons

Oh, gotcha. Well either way we don't know who's getting the 6 or 7 seed. By the way, while we're talking about depth and our playoff run last year, I think a huge part of why we lost last year is because Rondo had no real backup last year. Wasn't he playing over 40 minutes in almost every game in the playoffs? The guy looked completely gassed during the Lakers series. If Delonte can stay healthy and effective, that's a huge plus for us.

Yes, that is very true. I think most of the reason why Celtics lost last year was because there was basically no bench. I remember seeing after game 4 of the ECF against the Magic, most of the Celtics slumping from exhaustion. And it was also bad that they had another round to play, which was the Finals. I think the bench for a team is so underrated. With Delonte, Arroyo, Green, Murphy, Kritic, and JO now on board, the Celtics would have plenty of energy left to go very far in the playoffs

For sure. I mean, Shelden Williams got minutes in the finals for ****. That tells you something (hint: not good) about last year's team.

[Army_of_One_Nation]

With the 2-3-2 format, heck yeah!

[heitingas]

lakers 5 remaining games are

@ GSW
@ Blazers
v OKC
v Spurs
@ Kings

they must lose two of those games and Celtics win their remaining 5

@ Bulls
v Wizards
@ Heat
@ Wizards
v Knicks

If we could have a better record than LA is all I care about, not much about the Bulls.

[LilRip]

i think the C's are better off at the 2 seed. it's not so much because of our starters but because home court usually leads to the BENCH playing better and more energized, and having home court for 2 rounds, i think, will rest our starters a bit more.