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“(Expletive), I’m watching,” Isaiah Thomas said after yesterday’s practice. “Other guys might say (they’re not). Hey, I’m watching. I watched the end of the Cleveland game last night. I saw that they lost. But, I mean, we’re not chasing it. We’re just trying to control our own destiny, control where we are right now, and if we happen to somehow get the No. 1 seed, that would be great. But if not, hopefully we can just keep the No. 2 seed.”
The Celtics are even with the Cavaliers in the win column, but they’ve played two more games and have 26 defeats to Cleveland’s 24. But the C’s also have a more favorable schedule down the stretch in terms of opponent quality and home/road breakdown.
The value of getting the top seed would really only come into play if the Celts meet Cleveland in the East finals, and, no matter who gets the extra home game, the C’s would be a decided underdog in that series.
Anyone who says they are not checking the standings regularly is lying. That applies to Isaiah, James Young, Brad Stevens, Danny Ainge and Wyc Grousbeck. When the race gets this close, you can’t help but check.
But watching late games and scrolling for scores on your phone in the morning is light years away from truly aiming for the #1 seed.
I doubt Stevens or Ainge will even remotely risk guys health/rest for the #1 seed. If someone has a nagging injury that would benefit significantly from 2-3 days off, I bet he gets it.
I’d like the #1 seed. It will be a sweet little cherry on top of this damn good regular season.
But what’s really the difference between 1 and 2? You’re likely getting Washington or Toronto in the 2nd round. It’s too close to predict who lands where at the moment. And if the Celtics have home court in the conference finals against Cleveland, the outcome won’t change. The Celtics might lose in 6 instead of 5, but they’ll still lose.
Of course, this is how I feel about the Celtics facing a healthy and solid Cavaliers team. But the Cavs are no strangers to injury or drama.
On Page 2, Danny Ainge is also preparing for what happens at the bottom of the standings.
“It’s good that we’re a team that’s on pace to win 50-plus games and that we get a good draft pick, that’s a very fortunate and very rare situation that we’re in,” Ainge said. “But it doesn’t guarantee anything other than that. It doesn’t guarantee success. But we’re excited for this year’s draft and the playoffs.”
Ainge and his staff watched all four NCAA games Thursday, and surveyed all the potential lottery picks who were in action.
[…]The Celtics will be extremely prepared at draft time. Ainge spent time at the ACC tournament two weeks ago and has studied every top prospect intently.
“We watch every possession of every play through the whole course of their careers, offense and defense,” Ainge said. “Tournament performance matters. Everything they do matters and we evaluate all of it, including draft workouts and interviews and background checks and character references, everything. It all matters.”
Lonzo Ball and Josh Jackson are getting more headlines now because of tournament play, but all the experts are still pointing to Fultz as the top guy for Boston.
As for the draft lottery…
The Nets beat Phoenix last night by 28 points. At 15-56, they now sit 5 games behind the Lakers with 11 games to go.
The race to the bottom is going to get closer than any of us had hoped.
And finally, IT is working on that right hand (from 22 feet).
Isaiah Thomas out here practicing that righty 3-ball. pic.twitter.com/p8Zy6PwNJO
— Chris Forsberg (@ChrisForsberg_) March 23, 2017
The rest of the links
Mass Live: Bradley believes he deserves 1st team all Defense | ESPN Boston – Old school Amir doesn’t have time for fancy stats
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