LOS ANGELES — As part of his multi-pronged rant following the Boston Celtics’ head-shaking loss in Orlando back in January, Kyrie Irving said he wasn’t “comfortable” with Boston settling for the fifth seed in the Eastern Conference. Alas, as the team’s inconsistent ways persisted and Boston lingered in that slot for much of the season, it almost felt like the team was resigned to the fact it might end up there.
With help from its current three-game winning streak, the Celtics have kept themselves in the hunt for the No. 3 seed. Despite entering Sunday still trailing both Philadelphia and Indiana, Boston owned the best odds at finishing with the best record among those teams.
ESPN’s Basketball Power Index gave Boston a 45 percent chance at landing the No. 3 seed entering Sunday’s action — which included a Pacers-76ers showdown — and only a 24 percent chance of slipping to the fifth seed. That means Boston has a 75.8 percent chance at earning homecourt advantage for at least one round of the playoffs.
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But does seeding actually matter to these Celtics?
“No question about it. You worry about seeding but, ultimately, as I tell our group, we just want to be playing our best basketball. We want to be locked in,” Al Horford told NBC Sports Boston. “We fall where we fall but [seeding] is important. If we’re able to get home-court advantage in the first round or whatever, that's important.
Boston Celtics
"I’m not looking every day at the standings but I am aware. It’s the playoffs and, hopefully if you’re around as long as we want to go, it’s a long journey, so you want to definitely have homecourt, at least for the first round. That’s important.”
Even in earning the No. 3 seed and a slice of home court, the Celtics are staring at a daunting playoff path that, should top seeds win out, would likely mean having to joust with Toronto and Milwaukee without the benefit of home court.
That’s not a small challenge for a Celtics team that only crept above .500 on the road during this recent win streak out west. Boston had one of the best road records in the NBA last season — impossibly, the Celtics were better on the road (28-13) than they were at TD Garden (27-14) — and the team still only won once on the road in the postseason (that confetti game in Philly).
Still, the focus for these Celtics sits on simply playing a more consistent brand of basketball than what they showcased through the first 60 games of the season.
"It’s the only thing that matters … hitting your stride at the right time,” said Irving. "I think we’re all waiting for the stride to be hit for us, especially going on the road, playing against high-level teams, and being successful. We just gotta take care of that and just continue to build the continuity that we need, and the trust. Around this time … we want to get going and just feel good about your team and going into the playoffs.”
CELTICS 120, LAKERS 107
Celtics coach Brad Stevens said that, even if the team jockeys for seeding, he will find time to rest players and ensure the team is at full health and energy heading into the playoffs.
"I think the bottom line is we want to focus on playing as well as we can and competing together as well as we can. Where that stuff sorts itself out, it will,” said Stevens. "There will be times, obviously, in the next 16 games where we will choose to rest Al [Horford], choose to do some of that stuff. But that’s no different than we would have planned five months ago regardless of seeding and circumstance. Ultimately, it doesn’t change our approach at all, the standings being what they are.”
Seeding between the Celtics, Pacers, and Sixers might ultimately hinge on the remaining head-to-head matchups. Boston visits a Philadelphia team it's defeated three times this year next week then has two games with Indy in an eight-day span starting March 29.
Boston’s focus remains on what’s more immediately in front of them.
"Right now I think it’s prime time for us to get our s--- together,” said Marcus Morris. “Keep playing together, the energy has been really great.”
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