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Boston Celtics: Why next two games will determine their season

By Owen Crisafulli

MIAMI, FLORIDA - JANUARY 06: Bam Adebayo #13 of the Miami Heat is defended by Grant Williams #12 of the Boston Celtics during the first quarter at American Airlines Arena on January 06, 2021 in Miami, Florida. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and or using this photograph, User is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. (Photo by Michael Reaves/Getty Images)
MIAMI, FLORIDA - JANUARY 06: Bam Adebayo #13 of the Miami Heat is defended by Grant Williams #12 of the Boston Celtics during the first quarter at American Airlines Arena on January 06, 2021 in Miami, Florida. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and or using this photograph, User is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. (Photo by Michael Reaves/Getty Images) /
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So this is what it all boils down to. After getting blown out by the Chicago Bulls in their most recent contest, the Boston Celtics now find their playoff hopes on life support.

They now sit in the seventh seed in the Eastern Conference with five games left on the season, which means they are currently in line to participate in the NBA’s new play-in tournament rather than being guaranteed a playoff spot.

The Celtics next two games are both against the Miami Heat, the team that bested them in six games last season in the Eastern Conference Finals. Ideally, the Celtics would like to move up the standings before the season’s end, but the Heat just so happen to be the sixth seed in the Eastern Conference.

See why these two games are so important now?

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Without being too overdramatic, these next two contests will determine how the Boston Celtics season ends. If they lose both games to the Heat, there’s a chance the Celtics will get bounced during the play-in tournament and not even qualify for the playoffs. Boston has to do whatever it takes to pull out victories in these two games, or else they could be in for a very short postseason appearance.

Why is the play-in tournament so bad for the Boston Celtics?

To fully understand how dire this situation is, let’s take a look at how the play-in tournament works. At the season’s end, the seventh and eighth seed will face off in a game, and the winner becomes the seventh seed, setting them up for a seven-game series with the second seed.

Meanwhile, the ninth and 10th seed play a game, and whoever wins that moves on to play the loser of the seventh vs. eighth seed game. The winner of this game becomes the eighth seed and matches up with the first seed in their conference.

So if the Celtics end up in the play-in tournament, they could end up losing two games, and completely miss the playoffs. That’s why it is so important to clinch a playoff berth while they can.

You never know when a team could go hot or cold, and the play-in tournament is not a place where you want to go cold, which is something the Celtics have done frequently this season.

Not only would clinching a playoff berth allow the Celtics to avoid the play-in tourney, but it would also allow for them to take some time to get healthy.

With the actual NBA playoffs beginning on May 22nd, the Celtics would have at least six days to rest and recover before they look to embark on a deep playoff run. The Celtics are one of the most banged up teams in the league, so any additional rest they can pick up would be huge.

Boston would also find themselves in a much more favorable matchup should they find themselves in a playoff spot. If they manage to get the sixth seed, that would currently set them up with a seven-game series against the slumping Brooklyn Nets, whereas the play-in tournament would set them up with either the Milwaukee Bucks or Philadelphia 76ers.

The Celtics could conceivably still move up to the fourth seed, but they have to win these upcoming games for that even be a possibility.

As a result, the Celtics season fully depends on these two upcoming games against Miami. Not only do they have a shot to overtake Miami, but they can put some distance between them in the process.

On the other hand, the Celtics could completely fall out of the race for a playoff spot and find themselves locked into the play-in tournament, which goes to show how much is riding on these games.

The opponent is a familiar one in the Miami Heat. While they lost some of their supporting cast, they have the same core, led by Jimmy Butler and Bam Adebayo, that bounced the Celtics out of the playoffs last season.

With the amount that is on the line for both sides, both these contests will have a playoff-type feel to them, meaning the Celtics will have to exorcise their ghosts from last season and take down the Heat when it matters the most.

The good news for the Celtics is that they should be close to full health for both contests. Jaylen Brown and Rob Williams both missed the recent atrocity against the Bulls, but are expected to be good to go come tomorrow afternoon.

If the Heat run a similar defensive scheme to the one they ran during last season’s playoffs, it’s not a stretch to say that Williams could be the key to the Celtics success against Miami.

Next. Play-in round a wake up call for Boston. dark

At this point, it’s probably not reasonable to expect the Boston Celtics to be title contenders. However, they have the talent to make another deep playoff run if the stars align perfectly.

In order for that to happen though, they need to win their two upcoming games against the Miami Heat, or else the offseason could be upon us sooner than we expect.

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