The Celtics are trying to hold on to a lead in the Atlantic Division and maybe even improve their Eastern Conference playoff seeding. We'll regularly check in on the competition to see how things stand.
Things have changed a little bit in the East. Orlando and Philadelphia have both hit rough patches. Orlando, playing without Dwight Howard due to back spasms, lost its fourth game in a row last night. Philly, meanwhile, lost to the Heat for their 7th loss in 11 games.
Here's a look at the standings right now:
The Celtics hold the 4th seed because a division leader is guaranteed home court advantage in the first round of the playoffs.
The Celtics play the currently 3rd seeded Pacers on Saturday, then Philly the next day, so there's some chance to gain ground on Indy and add distance to the lead over the Sixers. The Celtics face Orlando on April 18.
Here's what lies ahead for the competition:
Indiana: tonight @Washington, Friday vs. Thunder, Saturday vs. Boston
Orlando: tomorrow vs. New York, Saturday @ Philadelphia, Monday vs. Detroit
Philadelphia: tonight vs. Toronto, Saturday vs. Orlando, Sunday @ Boston
As you can see, all of these teams play each other, so there is still a LOT of movement possible. Meanwhile, the Sixers will have to figure out how bad Andre Iguodala's eye injury is after he suffered a contusion in the 3rd quarter of last night's game against Miami. He didn't return to the game, and it looks like he won't be out long, but it's something to, no pun intended, keep an eye on.
Orlando is dealing with injuries as well. They lost last night without Howard, Jameer Nelson or Ryan Anderson. The injuries to Howard and Nelson are not expected to linger, but again, something to watch as the C's get ready for a game against the Magic on Monday.
We'll revisit this later and see if any of these teams help the C's out by going deeper into funks. We'll take any help we can get in insane April schedule.
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