Boston Celtics: A preview of the final two months of the season
February is coming to a close and that means that there’s a little over a month left of basketball. What does life look like for the months of March and April for the Boston Celtics?
The Boston Celtics held the No. 1 seed in the Eastern Conference for the majority of the season. That is, until the Toronto Raptors came in and took it away from them.
Best-case scenario for the Celtics is to obviously finish the rest of the season strong. How they might do this plays a big factor in who they will face over in the final months of April and May.
Injuries and offensive struggles behind, the team has looked very good. It has the top-ranked defense in the league, which has played a huge role in winning so many games — including a game in which they held arguably the greatest offensive lineup ever assembled in the Golden State Warriors to just 88 points.
Boston will not be able to just jog to the finish line because the competition they’ll face is not anyone that should be taken lightly:
| Date | Opponent | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sat, Mar 3, 2018 | 8:30p ET | 46-13 | @ | Houston Rockets |
| Mon, Mar 5, 2018 | 8:00p ET | 20-39 | @ | Chicago Bulls |
| Thu, Mar 8, 2018 | 8:00p ET | 37-26 | @ | Minnesota Timberwolves |
| Sun, Mar 11, 2018 | 7:30p ET | 34-25 | Indiana Pacers | |
| Wed, Mar 14, 2018 | 8:00p ET | 35-25 | Washington Wizards | |
| Fri, Mar 16, 2018 | 7:00p ET | 18-41 | @ | Orlando Magic |
| Sun, Mar 18, 2018 | 6:00p ET | 33-26 | @ | New Orleans Pelicans |
| Tue, Mar 20, 2018 | 8:00p ET | 34-27 | Oklahoma City Thunder | |
| Fri, Mar 23, 2018 | 10:00p ET | 34-26 | @ | Portland Trail Blazers |
| Sun, Mar 25, 2018 | 6:00p ET | 18-41 | @ | Sacramento Kings |
| Mon, Mar 26, 2018 | 10:00p ET | 18-43 | @ | Phoenix Suns |
| Wed, Mar 28, 2018 | 9:30p ET | 31-29 | @ | Utah Jazz |
| Sat, Mar 31, 2018 | 7:30p ET | 41-17 | Toronto Raptors | |
| Tue, Apr 3, 2018 | 8:00p ET | 33-26 | @ | Milwaukee Bucks |
| Wed, Apr 4, 2018 | 7:00p ET | 41-17 | @ | Toronto Raptors |
| Fri, Apr 6, 2018 | 7:30p ET | 20-39 | Chicago Bulls | |
| Sun, Apr 8, 2018 | 7:30p ET | 18-42 | Atlanta Hawks | |
| Date | Opponent | |||
| Tue, Apr 10, 2018 | 8:00p ET | 35-25 | @ | Washington Wizards |
| Wed, Apr 11, 2018 | 8:00p ET | 19-41 | Brooklyn Nets |
Provided by Basketball-Reference.com: View Original Table
Generated 2/26/2018.
95-5 chances of winning:
It won’t be all good teams that Boston will have to face in the final two months. The Celtics actually have a few opponents they should be able to defeat easily:
- March 5 and April 6, Chicago Bulls
- March 16, Orlando Magic
- March 25, Sacramento Kings
- March 26, Phoenix Suns
- April 8, Atlanta Hawks
- April 11, Brooklyn Nets
These games will be a nice in-between when they go on to face teams that will be a challenge. Quite frankly, there are a lot of games that are not going to be easy. Playing these bottom-feeder teams doesn’t mean the Celtics can just show up and expect to win. These teams have the ability to make you earn a win or even upset you.
Everyone is in the league for a reason and while these teams don’t have anything to play for as the season winds down, the young guns or some other bubble roster players are fighting to show management or other organizations that they deserve a spot on a roster.
60-40 chance of winning
The Celtics also have games on their schedule in which they play teams that are not easy, but aren’t exactly top-tier talents either.
- March 8, Minnesota Timberwolves
- March 11, Indiana Pacers
- March 14, Washington Wizards
- March 18, New Orleans Pelicans
- March 20, Oklahoma City Thunder
- March 23, Portland Trail Blazers
- March 28, Utah Jazz
- April 3, Milwaukee Bucks
- April 10, Washington Wizards
Some of those games are harder than others, but they fall into the same pool. They’re bubble playoff teams or the lower half of playoff teams. All of those teams are going to be pushing to make the playoffs or move higher up in the standings.
If Boston can’t stay healthy or figure things out offensively, then those 60-40 odds become a lot slimmer.
50-50 chances of winnings
- March 3, Houston Rockets
- March 31 and April 4, Toronto Raptors
These games will be the hardest teams that the Celtics will see. The Raptors have not received enough credit for the season they’re having. People are still viewing the Cleveland Cavaliers and the Celtics as the teams most likely to come out of the East. Those are two good teams that have a great chance, but the Raptors aren’t brought up in that discussion enough. They’re the top team in the East and they have one of the best offenses and defenses in the league.
According to NBA.com, they have the fourth-best offensive rating and the third-best defensive rating. With DeMar DeRozan having a fantastic year and Kyle Lowry still having another good season as well, the Raptors are not going to be a team to take lightly.
For the other matchup, you have the best team in the NBA. You could still argue that the Warriors are, and you’d probably be right. However, the Rockets hold the best record in the NBA. They’re an offensive juggernaut, heaving up record amounts of 3s and finding great success. James Harden is having another MVP season and looks to be the clear front-runner to win the most prestigious individual award the league has to offer
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Boston will have its hands full over the next month and a half. The Celtics don’t really have a schedule that screams, “cake walk.” They can win a majority of those games, but that’s only if they can figure out their offense and injury issues.