Celtics: 3 bold predictions post-All Star break

(Photo by Rocky Widner/NBAE via Getty Images)
(Photo by Rocky Widner/NBAE via Getty Images) /
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(Photo by Lampson Yip – Clicks Images/Getty Images)
(Photo by Lampson Yip – Clicks Images/Getty Images) /

2. The Celtics only lose five games in the second half of the year

Sure, this one may seem unjustifiable. Yet, if you take a look at their schedule, it features many winnable games.

The Boston Celtics play17 of their last 28 games against teams that sit in the playoff picture. However, some of those should be easier than others. Two games against the Orlando Magic, two against the Brooklyn Nets, one against the Memphis Grizzlies, and two matchups against the Indiana Pacers.

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Out of all of those games, the contests against the Pacers seem like the only ones that could give the C’s some trouble. Still, in a league where every night and every contest is an uncertainty, the Celtics could very well wind up with 15 losses instead of five.

The assumption behind this prediction is that the Celtics stay healthy for the last set of games. In the first half, they rested a different player almost every night, and it was tough to establish chemistry on the floor. Despite those health concerns, the team is right outside of the second seed in the East, and are a top-five team in the league, record-wise.

If they can stay healthy, they have one of the best seven-man rotations in the league. Their offensive firepower is there, and the defense is going to find itself as they get more playing time as a unit.

Among the five losses, my prediction is they fall to the Bucks in Milwaukee, they lose a tough one in Miami against the Heat, they split their two games with the Jazz, the C’s drop one in Brooklyn, and then they lose a game against the Chicago Bulls, who have given them some trouble this season.