What if I told you Steph Curry, Jayson Tatum, & LeBron James would all be in the play-in tourney?
Well they all are and here's the schedule:
Of note, there will be no more back-to-back games for teams starting with this play-in tournament. So all the players you are accustomed to seeing only play one out of two back-to-back games will be good to go for every game. That means Brad Stevens won't be faced with playing a potential Game 2 without Kemba Walker. Also means that a surprise entry in the play-in tournament the Los Angeles Lakers will also have a day off between games to rest LeBron James, Anthony Davis and their various ailments.Play-in schedule: pic.twitter.com/PEsadSpO2p
— David Aldridge (@davidaldridgedc) May 17, 2021
The Celtics of course have two shots to make the official traditional 8 team conference playoffs. Winning on Tuesday would make life easier, but a loss doesn't mean the end of the world and even comes with some potential silver linings.
My advise and you can take it or not is to get pumped for the play-in tournament and potential playoffs. With Jaylen Brown out the Celtics are underdogs and I'm sure many won't even have them getting past the play-in tourney. Would be nice to see them make some sort of dent as the Cinderella Celtics.(2of2) ... I believe there was a reason BOS chose health over players like Smart & Kemba getting reps in this weekend to be ready for Tue. C's are playing to win Tue, but also know while a loss puts BOS in a must win for Gm 2 in the play-in tourney it has its silver linings
— CelticsLife.com (@celticslife) May 17, 2021
Ainge has tanked before (2006-07) regardless of his necessary denials to prevent the league disciplining the Celtics, but tanking at this point is not an option. The NBA would drop the hammer on "post regular season" tanking. Besides what's the reward? Pick #14 instead of #16? So if you're rooting for Boston to lose, I'd recommend changing your mind. You'll have months to lament what went wrong with this team coming up. And if you are sure this Celtics team is awful and has no chance, well then by Thursday night you will be able to throw dirt on the season. So not a long time to wait.Since we're playing the Wizards again & the Rockets season has mercilessly ended, can we borrow Kelly Olynyk for a day at least? That 20 & 10 he put up in Houston could come in handy. He's a FA this summer anyway. Just think about it ok? pic.twitter.com/XywLqm7rY3
— CelticsLife.com (@celticslife) May 17, 2021
If you choose to root for the Celtics the rest of the way, welcome to the postseason (getting tired of calling it anything else. Tuesday's game is not a regaular season game. No one views it as such). Let's do some unexpected damage.
