The Boston Celtics will almost certainly play a recurrent Eastern Conference opponent in the opening round of the NBA playoffs.
The No. 8 seed, who will emerge victorious from the NBA play-in tournament “loser’s bracket” match, will be drawn by the Celtics, who are the top seed in the East. The victor of Wednesday night’s game between the No. 7 Philadelphia 76ers and the No. 8 Miami Heat will earn the No. 7 seed; the loser will face the winner of the No. 9 vs. No. 10 contest (Chicago Bulls vs. Atlanta Hawks) to claim the No. 8 seed.
In a game against the Bulls or Hawks, the Sixers and Heat would both be favourites (particularly at home), hence Boston’s most likely opponent would be the winner of Tuesday’s Sixers-Heat game.
Should the Celtics or their supporters be worried about this possibly difficult first-round matchup given Philly and Miami’s playoff histories? Cedric Maxwell, a former forward for the Celtics and current radio analyst for the C’s, had a conclusive opinion on NBC Sports on Monday. Arbella in Boston
