Clinched the Atlantic division, do we sit the big four until playoffs?

[Employee8]

Hmmm..pretty sure home court advantage is up for grabs for Friday night's game. Why on earth would we "rest" our best players in arguably the most important game of the season?

Because we wont get HCA except for the first round no matter what. Similar to 2010 health should matter more.

Especially with KG/Bass looking tired lately.

Well that isn't true.  Philadelphia could beat Chicago, which would give Boston home court in the second round.  And Orlando or New York might get hot and give Boston home court in the ECF.  

That said, I don't think our status in those game can change (perhaps orlando, but not the other two).  But, it won't matter if we don't beat Atlanta in the first round, and the Celtics are a bad road team.  Home court very easily could mean the difference between beating Atlanta and losing to Atlanta.  The Celtics can't give up on the rest of the regular season or one and done is quite possible.  That said if someone is injured, rest them, if guys are tired, cut back on the minutes, but just not playing guys is silly.

Philly isn't beating Chicago.

I do think HCA matters against the Hawks, but I think given how thin we are at the 4/5 giving Bass/KG a day off and playing them less is more important.

Philly might beat Chicago.  They have actually outscored Chicago in the three games they have played (though is 1-2).  You just never know what will happen in the playoffs, though I certainly wouldn't be betting on Philly.

Highest seed plays the lowest seed.  If Philly beats Chicago and Miami wins, Miami gets to play Philly.  And we play the next available team, most likely Indiana.

This is the NBA, not the NFL. Once the brackets are set that's it.

That's why Memphis played the Thunder last year instead of the Lakers in the second round.

Whoops, you're right.  Thanks for the correction...NHL does the reseeding format too.  Well then, I'm a big Philly fan now!

[Fafnir]

I didn't know that about the NHL.

[mctyson]

Hmmm..pretty sure home court advantage is up for grabs for Friday night's game. Why on earth would we "rest" our best players in arguably the most important game of the season?

Because home court advantage in the 1st round is not the most important thing...reaching the 1st round completely healthy is.  If KG or Pierce were to get injured playing, you could kiss the season goodbye.

[blink]

I think you have to go for the win in Atlanta.  Play everyone who isn't injured.  HC might make the difference even in the series against Atlanta.

Everything else should depend on that game.  If we win, then continue to shoot for home court.  If we lose, rest the starters that need it...

[nickagneta]

I say, against Atlanta, play the players that are healthy and sit the players that are injured. If you lose the game call it a regular season for Ray, Rondo, Pierce and KG as HCA against Atlanta is lost.

If you win the game, you have four days off anyways before Miami so you may as well continue to play the healthy players and sit the injured.

[GronkSpike]

Go all in to beat Atlanta, we will have some days off until the Heat game anyway. Sit Rondo if needed, don't want to aggravate his injury.

In the last two games I would give Bass a night off, and probably KG too. In the other game I would limit KG to 15, 20min max, and Bass 25. The same goes for Pierce.

If Rondo is still a little beat up I wouldn't play him until the Bucks game, then I would give him at least 25mins to get his game back.

[Eddie20]

Rest the big 4 versus Atlanta. Play everyone against Miami as sort of a dress rehersal. No starters, except Bradley, against Milwaukee. We can't play our starters in that game because our first playoff game will either be Saturday or Sunday, and you don't want that short of a turnaround. Also don't think the San Antonio example applies since Ginobili was hurt and severely limited against Memphis.

[nickagneta]

Regarding the very subjective opinion of Bass and KG looking tired, I don't get it. A case could be made that anyone "looks" tired at this time of year.

I don't think they have appeared tired at all. Between the two of them over the last 14-15 games(28-30 in total between the two) I think they have played poorly a total of 3-4 times. Heck, both have played extremely well in some very recent fourth quarters when, if they were tired, you would expect them to be doing very little.

Simply put, Bass isn't sitting. He's 26 and healthy. Doc might sit KG for the last two if they lose tomorrow night but I don't see Bass sitting.

[ManUp]

I couldn't care less about home court, rest them. Play the young guys and stay healthy.

Regarding the very subjective opinion of Bass and KG looking tired, I don't get it. A case could be made that anyone "looks" tired at this time of year.

I don't think they have appeared tired at all. Between the two of them over the last 14-15 games(28-30 in total between the two) I think they have played poorly a total of 3-4 times. Heck, both have played extremely well in some very recent fourth quarters when, if they were tired, you would expect them to be doing very little.

Simply put, Bass isn't sitting. He's 26 and healthy. Doc might sit KG for the last two if they lose tomorrow night but I don't see Bass sitting.

TP for calling us clinching the Atlantic when the chips were down Nick. It's obnoxious if you say I told you so, but you should be able to.

http://forums.celticsblog.com/index.php?topic=54130.60

[Evantime34]

I'd like to get home court in the division but since we are probably sitting Pietrus, Ray, and Rondo again Friday I think Doc has already made his decision.

[get_banners]

Tricky position - I want home court in the 1st round, as Atlanta won't be an easy out. At the same time, I want to make sure the guys are rested. I say we go all-out vs. Atlanta on Friday and go from there. If we lose that game, there is probably no point in playing the starters the rest of the way - though we obviously shouldn't rush anyone back (Ray, Rondo, Pietrus) to play in that one unless they're actually healthy. Is Horford going to be back for the playoffs?

[Employee8]

I'd like to get home court in the division but since we are probably sitting Pietrus, Ray, and Rondo again Friday I think Doc has already made his decision.

I agree.  I'm not sure what Doc prefers but regardless, the starting line up is going to be the same as it was against Orlando.  It was successful anyway so whatever happens happens.  Biggest thing is we got the 4 seed and we'll be ready to beat the 5th seed, Atlanta or Orlando, home or away.  Let's get it done!

[Tai]

Ugh, if you wanna rest the Big 4 or something in the final game, then so be it. I'd rather not play anyone who's already injured as is, but I wouldn't want to deliberately rest guys just to rest them with 3 games left when you usually do that on the final game, ESPECIALLY when we don't even have home field for the 1st round clinched yet.

[celtsfan84]

Our 2008 title team was referenced earlier, which I'm convinced nobody actually remembers.

Doc rested all of the big 3 in Game 81 and rested Rajon while playing the big 3 very light minutes in Game 82. Heck, he began to rest guys in Game 77.  In a 3 point win over Milwaukee, Posey, House, R Allen, Davis, and Powe all played more minutes than Pierce, T Allen, Garnett, Rondo, Perkins.

For those who say we needed home court to win the title, that could be considered true, but even if we win all these remaining games, we will only have home court in Round 1.  If this team so desperately needs home court to exit Round 1, then it is doomed on the road against Miami, Chicago, etc... in Round 2. I'd like to think the goals are loftier than winning Round 1.  And there is no number of games we can win that gives us home court in Rounds 2, 3, or the Finals.

I say rest everybody. KG. Paul. Ray. Rajon. Bass.

[Fafnir]

At that point in 07-08 we'd already clinched the number one overall seed in the league.