NBA Playoff Preview 2017: Boston Celtics
The Celtics have clinched the number 1 seed with a record of (53–29) and take on the 8th seeded (41–41) Chicago Bulls in a seven game series to start off the postseason. In this article I will go round by round and give their most likely opponent in my opinion to go along with a percentage of their odds to advance to the next round and my reasoning why.
First Round
Opponent: Chicago Bulls
Starting Lineups:
Celtics- Isaiah Thomas (29.1 ppg, 5.9 apg, 2.7 rpg), Avery Bradley (16.4 ppg, 2.2 apg, 6.1 rpg) Al Horford (14.0 ppg, 6.9 rpg, 5.0 apg), Jae Crowder (13.8 ppg, 2.2 apg, 5.8 rpg), Amir Johnson (6.4 ppg, 1.8 apg, 4.6 rpg)
Bulls- Jimmy Butler (23.9 ppg, 5.5 apg, 6.2 rpg), Dwyane Wade (18.5 ppg, 3.8 apg, 4.5 rpg), Rajon Rondo (7.8 ppg, 6.7 apg, 5.1 rpg), Nikola Mirotic (10.7 ppg, 1.1 apg, 5.4 rpg), Robin Lopez (10.4 ppg, 1.0 apg, 6.4 rpg)
Percentage of Winning Series: 75 %
Series Outcome Prediction: Celtics in 6
The Celtics have secured the number one seed in the western conference but I don’t know if that was the place to be for them. I know they get home-court advantage throughout but against a gritty rebounding team like Chicago I’m not sure that is going to have that major of an impact. There are multiple factors that make nervous about this series. First of all, I have touched on him in previous articles but Jimmy Butler could come back to haunt Danny Ainge and the Celtics after having the opportunity to trade for him at the deadline. Wouldn’t that be a fun one to write about.
Another few things to take into consideration are Rajon Rondo and Dwayne. Starting with Rondo, the dude averages 14 points, 9 assists, and 6 rebounds a game in the postseason for his career. Those are not bad numbers when you take into consideration how much built up anger he has towards the celtics already. When it comes to Dwayne Wade, the man simply knows how to win and he loves it. He comes in as a 3-time NBA champion, 1 being even without Lebron and off a year where he willed the heat to a 7-game series against the Raptors by himself with 21.4 points game in that span. Don’t be surprised if he turns back the clock along side Jimmy and the Bulls give the C’s a run for their money.
All that it comes down to is the Celtics will need to rebound efficiently and get some help from literally any other player on the court that isn’t named Isaiah Thomas and they should be coasting into the Eastern Conference Semi-Finals.
Eastern Conference Semi-Finals
Most Likely opponent: Washington Wizards
Starting Lineups:
Celtics- Isaiah Thomas (29.1 ppg, 5.9 apg, 2.7 rpg), Avery Bradley (16.4 ppg, 2.2 apg, 6.1 rpg) Al Horford (14.0 ppg, 6.9 rpg, 5.0 apg), Jae Crowder (13.8 ppg, 2.2 apg, 5.8 rpg), Amir Johnson (6.4 ppg, 1.8 apg, 4.6 rpg)
Wizards- John Wall (23.1 ppg, 10.7 apg, 4.2 rpg), Bradley Beal (23.1 ppg, 3.5 apg, 3.1 rpg), Markieff Morris (14.0 ppg, 6.5 rpg, 1.7 apg), Otto Porter Jr. (13.5 ppg, 1.5 apg, 6.4 rpg), Marcin Gortat (10.7 ppg, 1.5 apg, 10.4 rpg)
Percentage of Winning Series: 70%
Series Outcome Prediction: Celtics in 6
Nobody is even taking into consideration the Wizards, it seems as though many are already counting them out. I don’t know if this is because of their youth but if you ask me this team is legit. Beal and Wall make up one of the best backcourts in the entire NBA and could very will be the best in the East. Thomas is better than both of them but combined the duo from Washington outlast Bradley and Thomas. Also, please do not forget about Otto Porter, who is slowly making his own in the NBA as a decently elite shooter. When it comes to rebounding both teams obviously struggle with this but I think the advantage may actually be with Washington since they have a man who does this in Gortat as a true post.
I do not think will be as easy a series as many people would imagine, I could see the Wizards giving the Celtics there best shot. It will again come down to who is going to help Isaiah on the offensive end and depth which is obviously in the Celtics favor from the start. However, the Wizards do have the trade deadline acquisition of Bojan Bogdanovic who lends a decent hand off the bench of 14 points a night. Look for the battle of the bigs to be the key to this series since we already know what we are going to get out of the guards. Regardless of the situation, I feel the Celtics should be able to prevail and head on to the Eastern Conference Finals.
Eastern Conference Finals
Most Likely Opponent: Cleveland Cavaliers
Starting Lineups:
Celtics- Isaiah Thomas (29.1 ppg, 5.9 apg, 2.7 rpg), Avery Bradley (16.4 ppg, 2.2 apg, 6.1 rpg) Al Horford (14.0 ppg, 6.9 rpg, 5.0 apg), Jae Crowder (13.8 ppg, 2.2 apg, 5.8 rpg), Amir Johnson (6.4 ppg, 1.8 apg, 4.6 rpg)
Cavaliers- LeBron James (26.4 ppg, 8.7 apg, 8.6 rpg), Kyrie Irving (25.2 ppg, 5.8 apg, 3.2 rpg), Kevin Love (19.0 ppg, 11.1 rpg, 1.9 apg), Tristan Thompson (8.1 ppg, 1.0 apg, 9.2 rpg, J.R. Smith (8.7 ppg, 1.5 apg, 2.8 rpg
Percentage of Winning Series: 25%
Series Outcome Prediction: Cavaliers in 5
I don’t think this prediction needs to be very long. LeBron has been to 6 straight finals and even with the recent woes of his team I still feel that the King is the King and he will lead his troops to the promise land once again no matter what uniform he is wearing. If Danny Ainge had pulled the trigger and acquired someone along the lines of say..Jimmy Butler this could be up for debate but he decided he wanted his team to be just enough to compete for a chance to face the Cavaliers as opposed to chance to beat them.
The only way I see the Celtics standing a chance is if LeBron goes down to a severe injury and that is very very unlikely as the man plays just about every minute of the game as he always and really has never had anything major come up. Most of his injuries are due to soreness or illness but nothing will hold him back from accomplishing what he wants year in and year our, a chance to compete for the finals. Isaiah Thomas and company might be able to make it to the Eastern Conference Finals without too much luck but I’ll tell you one thing, they will need a miracle to get past this star-studded lineup. It was a good season, but this is the end of the road for the C’s. Maybe Ainge will finally pull the trigger in the offseason and do something crazy like make his team better.
