Our Race for the 2nd Seed With the Washington Wizards

[Witch-King]

The Wizards just moved ahead of us in playoff seeding which really isn't all that bad news, however we have a similar schedule to theirs in terms of the record of the teams we both play during the rest of the month of March which makes our home game against them on March 20th very important for playoff seeding...

...Of course, we shouldn't be focused on 8 days from now but instead on planning for each team we face as they come because if we drop games here and there then beating the Wizards might not earn us the 2 seed because both of our schedules feature numerous games against below .500 teams for the rest of the month. Even if we beat the Wizards they're not going away and will still remain a threat in a race for the 2nd and possibly the 1st seed as they are on a 7 game winning streak and are playing their best basketball of the season right now. I have faith in the Celtics and am looking forward to the next half month of games...

[iadera]

We have an easy schedule, so, if we are serious, Cavs should be also threatened. We have to consider that James is obviously tired and he'll have to play less and less if they wanna keep em ready for playoffs.

[Moranis]

I think the conference finishes 1. Cleveland, 2. Boston, 3. Washington, 4. Toronto, and 5. Atlanta.  I didn't look past those teams to figure out the bottom of the playoff teams.  Boston, Washington, and Toronto should all finish within a game or two of each other though, so even a minor injury could affect that positioning.  The Cavs should finish 3 or 4 games ahead of the 2 spot, but with their penchant for losing games they shouldn't, I wouldn't be surprised if Boston or Washington ended up really challenging Cleveland for that 1 seed. 

[apc]

The Wizards are the hot team, I think they will finish 2nd.
 

[footey]

Our schedule is incredibly favorable. If Love does not come back before play-offs (what is projected return date?), we have decent shot at 1 seed. We're really good at beating the mediocre teams, other than Denver, who, for the likes of me, I can't figure out why they are not top 4-5 in the West. 

[bopna]

I'll keep an eye on the cHeat as the Cavs don't wanna face em in round one with Love out or at half speed if he comes back. The Cavs will be willing to drop in seeding just so they don't face the Heat...terrible matchup for em despite lebron going Lebron mode.

[Evantime34]

I think it will all come down to when we play Washington next week. If we beat them, we tie the series at 2 with more home games remaining than them. If we lose they hold the tiebreaker and it would surprise me if Washington didn't end up 2nd.

My dream scenario is for us to pass the Cavs, and then Washington would have to play Cleveland 2nd round.

[spikelovetheCelts]

I think it will all come down to when we play Washington next week. If we beat them, we tie the series at 2 with more home games remaining than them. If we lose they hold the tiebreaker and it would surprise me if Washington didn't end up 2nd.

My dream scenario is for us to pass the Cavs, and then Washington would have to play Cleveland 2nd round.

Our Schedule favors us big time. We should be two and put heat on 1.

[Witch-King]

I read on ESPN's power rankings that the Celtics have the easiest schedule in the entire league for our final 16 games and that we only travel 3,000 miles the rest of the way as we have a lot of home games whereas the average NBA team travels 9,000 during the same stretch (crazy stats I know). This all means that we may very well get the number 1 seed, though if the Heat were the eight seed it would be a tough first round because they have the best record in the league over the last 25 games.

I honestly doubt this means that us the Wizards and the Cavaliers will have a tanking battle to avoid playing the white hot Heat in the first round (lol), but I can only speak for this team. If we do play Miami it could be an epic series like Celtics-Bulls 2009 where we had all of those close overtime games, but hopefully the Heat aren't too tough if we face them as they could feasibly upset teams if they continue to play this well.

[Evantime34]

I think it will all come down to when we play Washington next week. If we beat them, we tie the series at 2 with more home games remaining than them. If we lose they hold the tiebreaker and it would surprise me if Washington didn't end up 2nd.

My dream scenario is for us to pass the Cavs, and then Washington would have to play Cleveland 2nd round.

Our Schedule favors us big time. We should be two and put heat on 1.

We have an easier schedule than Washington, but they are playing better than us right now. When this changes so will my opinion.

[colincb]

https://projects.fivethirtyeight.com/2017-nba-predictions/

Currently the Cs have a 43% chance of the top seed, compared to the Cavs at 42%, and the Wiz at 15%.

[mef730]

I think it will all come down to when we play Washington next week. If we beat them, we tie the series at 2 with more home games remaining than them. If we lose they hold the tiebreaker and it would surprise me if Washington didn't end up 2nd.

My dream scenario is for us to pass the Cavs, and then Washington would have to play Cleveland 2nd round.

Our Schedule favors us big time. We should be two and put heat on 1.

We have an easier schedule than Washington, but they are playing better than us right now. When this changes so will my opinion.

Washington just blew it out of the water on a road trip. Their schedule may be tougher and more condensed but man, they look good.

Mike

[Clench123]

The Wizards are the hot team, I think they will finish 2nd.

Me too, especially with how inconsistent we've been.

[BitterJim]

I read on ESPN's power rankings that the Celtics have the easiest schedule in the entire league for our final 16 games and that we only travel 3,000 miles the rest of the way as we have a lot of home games whereas the average NBA team travels 9,000 during the same stretch (crazy stats I know). This all means that we may very well get the number 1 seed, though if the Heat were the eight seed it would be a tough first round because they have the best record in the league over the last 25 games.

I honestly doubt this means that us the Wizards and the Cavaliers will have a tanking battle to avoid playing the white hot Heat in the first round (lol), but I can only speak for this team. If we do play Miami it could be an epic series like Celtics-Bulls 2009 where we had all of those close overtime games, but hopefully the Heat aren't too tough if we face them as they could feasibly upset teams if they continue to play this well.

With the way the Heat are playing, they have a good shot at passing the Bucks (1 game ahead) and Pistons (1.5 games ahead) and being the 7th seed (maybe even passing the Pacers, who are 2.5 games ahead of them, but that would be asking a lot of them).  I think our best bet is to get the highest seed we can and not worry about who we play in the first round.  If we end up playing the Heat, so be it, but we need home court (and momentum!) much more than we need an easier first round matchup.

And, honestly, none of the teams we would potentially play in the first round scare me.  The Heat have been hot (heh), but I'd still take the Celtics in 5 or 6 against the the Bulls, Heat, Bucks, Pistons, or Pacers (the Hawks scare me a little, but I don't see any reasonable scenario where we face them in the first round)

[SparzWizard]

The Wizards are the hot team, I think they will finish 2nd.

The real question is...can the Washington Wizards finish as the 1st seed? Cleveland Cavaliers could drop as much as to the 3rd seed!

Oh man, that's pretty dangerous if that happened.