« Reply #2760 on: Today at 10:51:42 AM »
Lot of talk about the 2 vs. 3 seed. I won't lie, I don't really care about it because of how postseasons have gone for the Celtics in the past decade. Hell, even last year, they went 1-2 at home in the Knicks series. They've also had brutal losses at home to eliminate them (ex. 2022 Finals Game 6, 2023 ECF Game 7, etc. etc.)
And I'm usually someone who wants HCA, but this team has proven it can win big games on the road, and also lay duds at home in the playoffs. I think the best thing for this team for their long term goals is to just get Tatum acclimated and for the team to stay mostly healthy going in. We can still beat NY even without HCA, as long as Tatum is close to 90-100% and everyone else is mostly healthy too.
I do think there's a decent chance we'll be the 3 seed, because the Knicks remaining schedule is very easy. But I won't really be panicking unless guys get hurt or in a few weeks Tatum still looks rough. The main downside might be a first round series with Orlando instead of MIA/ATL, but then again ATL has looked red hot lately and I still think ORL will have trouble scoring at will given some of their issues, although it'd be a grind. Who knows, maybe TOR slips to 6 and ORL moves up?
It's really a toss up between the 5-10 seeds. They're all within 2.5 games. The Celtics' first-round opponent would be just as difficult as the Knicks in the second round.
Toronto- would be an interesting matchup.
Atlanta and Charlotte- hella hot, esp the latter.
Orlando- a physical team and a rematch with them could boil things.
Miami- that bully team that seems to always play Boston tough as long as Eric Spoelstra is leading that squad.
Philadelphia- A healthy Embiid, Paul George, and VJ could pose a threat. That iconic duo just exploded for 63 points in their first game back together.
I don't see Cleveland dropping that badly nor would they overtake the 3 seed.
I think as long as we don't play Charlotte first round, we're good lol. ORL/PHI/ATL can give us some fits but I don't worry about losing a series to them. We won't lose to Charlotte either but CHA also feels like a team that'd play with nothing to lose and push us to 6 or maybe even 7
Toronto is currently the 6 seed. If we end up 3, I would LOVE that matchup, that series really wouldn't worry me
Think I?d rather play Atlanta, but definitely 1A/1B.
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Quoting Nick from the now locked Ime thread:
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At some point you have to blame the performance on the court on the players on the court. Every loss is not the coach's fault and every win isn't because of the players.
