2026 Celtics Playoff Discussion

[BitterJim]

Posted it in the NBA Season thread as well, but Celtics open up Game 1 next Sunday at 1 PM

Kind of surprised the C's get an ABC primetime game to start

Apparently, there is a Florence & the Machine show at the Garden Sunday night. Hence, the early start.

Nope, the concert got moved to Monday (which really messes with my plans...)

Setting up the stage and everything in a couple of hours after the game would be a pretty big ask for the TD Garden crew

[Donoghus]

Posted it in the NBA Season thread as well, but Celtics open up Game 1 next Sunday at 1 PM

Kind of surprised the C's get an ABC primetime game to start

Apparently, there is a Florence & the Machine show at the Garden Sunday night. Hence, the early start.

Nope, the concert got moved to Monday (which really messes with my plans...)

Setting up the stage and everything in a couple of hours after the game would be a pretty big ask for the TD Garden crew

Gotcha. Will say I saw her years ago at Lolla and it was an incredible show.

[Neurotic Guy]

Not sure where to post this question, but who gets your vote for the biggest surprise this year:
Queta
Garza
Shiereman
Walsh
Hugo
JB
JT

Queta. He turned into a legitimate starting caliber center. I always liked him, but thought he?d be more of a backup. Then I?d probably go with JB. Turned into a top 10 player in the NBA.

I noticed you didn?t list Joe as an option. 

I have a hard time rating Joe, but definitely should be on the list.

I think I?d go:
1. JB. Loved him before, but never thought we?d be talking 1st team all-NBA and top 5 MVP. 
2. Baylor - came out of nowhere to look like a legit playoff rotation guy. Making contributions in all phases.
3. Queta - he showed something last year and in the off-season. Didn?t think he?d be this good and continuing to get better.
4. JT - hoped he?d be back in time. Hoped he?d be some semblance of who he was. But didn?t really think it would happen.
5. Walsh - from nowhere to contributor almost every time he takes the court. I think we see him in the playoffs which would have seemed extremely unlikely back in preseason.
6. Garza - another very low expectation guy who played some significant minutes for a stretch and proved to have solid bench value. 
7. Hugo - he never looked bad.  Seemed from the moment he got here he looked like a player.  Probably won?t see him unless way down or way up in the playoffs but he?s a keeper - I hope.

[SHAQATTACK]

Team seems locked and loaded to me .  Everyone looks happy and energetic.

[Donoghus]

Team seems locked and loaded to me .  Everyone looks happy and energetic.

Agreed.  Feel like they're in a really good place heading into the playoffs.  Got a good feeling here. 

[Phantom255x]

Personally, the only teams who I think can beat Boston in a 7-game series are Denver and OKC. I think even if they play the Spurs, the Spurs would be a bit inexperienced in that spot and the C's have the advantage there even though SAS would have HCA.

I don't think anyone in the East will beat them this year assuming health. Now obviously god forbid if someone or multiple guys go down with catastrophic/long term injuries that could change but otherwise, like @Donoghus said they seem to be in a really good place heading in health-wise and also chemistry (the rust is clearly off of Tatum too). I don't think anyone is suffering some mystery illness (Porzingis) or dealing with meniscus/hamstring/other issues (Jrue, Jaylen, Hauser, etc.)

I'll make my predictions after the play-in is sorted out. But yeah, assuming health I only fear two teams and both of them are in the West.

[SparzWizard]

Team seems locked and loaded to me .  Everyone looks happy and energetic.

Feels like the spring of 2024 all over again.

Hopefully it's a repeat of that

[Phantom255x]

Team seems locked and loaded to me .  Everyone looks happy and energetic.

Feels like the spring of 2024 all over again.

Hopefully it's a repeat of that

We opened the 2024 playoffs with a 1 PM Sunday game.

This playoffs opens up on... Sunday at 1 PM

 

[Phantom255x]

We only have one stretch with two days off, otherwise basically an "every other day" deal

[Vermont Green]

We only have one stretch with two days off, otherwise basically an "every other day" deal

Is that saying that game 2 on Tuesday is only on Peacock?  If so, that stinks.

[slamtheking]

We only have one stretch with two days off, otherwise basically an "every other day" deal

Is that saying that game 2 on Tuesday is only on Peacock?  If so, that stinks.

extremely stinky.  I saw somewhere it's NBC/Peacock for that game so I'm not sure how to interpret that.

I was hoping that the usual broadcasting of the first round is that unless it's a national game on a major network, that round is also broadcast on the team's local TV broadcaster.  I'm hoping the same will hold for this year and we'd get all but the first game that's on ABC also available on NBCSB

[Donoghus]

We only have one stretch with two days off, otherwise basically an "every other day" deal

Is that saying that game 2 on Tuesday is only on Peacock?  If so, that stinks.

extremely stinky.  I saw somewhere it's NBC/Peacock for that game so I'm not sure how to interpret that.

I was hoping that the usual broadcasting of the first round is that unless it's a national game on a major network, that round is also broadcast on the team's local TV broadcaster.  I'm hoping the same will hold for this year and we'd get all but the first game that's on ABC also available on NBCSB

That's all over. Local broadcasts are done for the season. The new TV contract killed that.

[SparzWizard]

We only have one stretch with two days off, otherwise basically an "every other day" deal

Is that saying that game 2 on Tuesday is only on Peacock?  If so, that stinks.

Feels like the Celtics on every Game 2 in the first-rounds each year they play on non-primetime televised games such as NBATV or this Peacock.

Feels like a classic playoff home game that the C's might drop knowing them. They'd blow the waters out of the visiting team on Game 1 and then drop the Game 2 home game 

[Phantom255x]

I personally like having NBC as another channel to watch the games that is local. Everyone can watch it and you don't need a package or subscription to carry TNT like in the past. The quality is also clear and I'm fine with Tirico in the booth as opposed to what TNT had near the end with some guys who clearly were losing their fastball and/or were very biased.

That said, Prime and Peacock + other streaming platforms are just gross. I guess Peacock would be fine if they still broadcasted to local markets like the NFL does if a game is on ESPN and the local markets can still view on ABC. But they don't.