The Boston Celtics followed up last year's championship by finishing the 2024-25 regular season with 61 wins, which was good enough to lock them in as the No. 2 seed in the Eastern Conference.
Now that their opponent in the opening round of the playoffs has been decided, Boston will begin its best-of-seven series against the Orlando Magic this Sunday. The Celtics' path to return to the NBA Finals for the chance to compete for the biggest prize in the sport is clear.
While there are plenty of things that need to fall into place between now and then, one of the biggest threats in the path of Boston's return to the NBA Finals received some positive injury news on Thursday that could drastically change the outlook of their chances of advancing deep into the postseason.
According to Sam Amick and Eric Nehm of The Athletic, Milwaukee Bucks star Damian Lillard has been cleared of the deep vein thrombosis issue which forced him to miss the end of the 2024-25 regular season. Lillard will be sidelined for Game 1 of Milwaukee's series against the Indiana Pacers but a return soon after thar appears to be a possibility as he is no longer taking blood thinners.
Lillard participated in practice with the Bucks on Thursday after, reportedly, doing some three-on-three work on Wednesday before being re-tested. There are certainly still hurdles that need to be cleared before Lillard returns to the lineup, but his presence on the floor would change things in terms of the outlook for Milwaukee moving forward, as, when healthy, Lillard was the type of force on the hardwood that fans have grown accustomed to seeing.
Should Lillard get back into the lineup sooner rather than later, there is little doubt that the Bucks would potentially raise a much different threat to the Celtics as he and Giannis Antetokounmpo are one of the best duos the league has to offer.
While it is easy for fans and the media to look ahead at these potential scenarios, Joe Mazzulla surely has this group focused on the task at hand and nothing else as we move closer to Game 1 at TD Garden on Sunday.