Five biggest losers of the 2020 bubble’s NBA playoffs

Honorable Mention: A missed opportunity for the Boston Celtics

The Boston Celtics were the highest-seeded team left standing out east by the time the conference finals rolled around. They “upset” the two-seeded Toronto Raptors in seven games while the fifth-seeded Miami Heat took out a Milwaukee Bucks team with the league’s top overall record.

Miami was no easy matchup and proved as much by advancing past Boston to the NBA Finals. It’s just hard not to think the Celtics, who were favored by many heading in, blew a chance that might not come around again anytime soon given the state of the conference.

Milwaukee and Toronto will be back next season, although the latter has some free agents to re-sign as do the Heat. Most importantly, the Brooklyn Nets will attempt to cut into that upper echelon of contenders on the strength of Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving.

It feels silly to draw any long-lasting conclusions about a team where two of their three leading scorers are just 23 and 22, respectively.

The future remains bright in Boston. But if the NBA has taught us anything, what’s done in the present guarantees very little in the future. Seize what’s obtainable today. The Celtics didn’t and will likely face stiffer competition on their path to redemption next season.