Boston Celtics claim #2 seed, will face play-in winner in round 1
The Celtics played all their guys on Sunday and demolished a Grizzlies team who rested all their top players. Meanwhile the Bucks rested Giannis and Middleton and fell to the Cavs. With the Celtics win and the Bucks loss, Boston claims the #2 seed and the Bucks fall to 3rd where they will have a very favorable match-up with the Chicago Bulls.
The Celtics will now have to wait to see who wins the play-in tournament for their opponent. The odds are with the Brooklyn Nets who look good again now that Kevin Durant is back.
If you're wondering why didn't the Celtics just lose to play the Bulls instead, well first of all, if Boston lost they would have fell to 4th place and played the Raptors. The Celtics then would likely been playing without home court advantage the rest of the way.Celtics close out 51 win regular season with 139-110 blowout over Grizzlies https://t.co/iaZxgxW3w0 pic.twitter.com/aQXbeC4tTe
— CelticsLife.com (@celticslife) April 11, 2022
While I'd prefer a 1st round match-up with the Bulls than the Nets, in the long run you need to beat the best to win a title. So if we have to knock out Durant in Round 1, so be it.
Celtics 2nd half of season success sets NBA record https://t.co/pjo7PMIsAD
— TEAMBOSTON (@teamboston) April 11, 2022