The Boston Celtics have had a rough stretch, going 5-6 since March 9. The Miami Heat, meanwhile, escaped a tough run and, since March 9, have gone 8-1. That's brought the teams to a near-tie behind the Chicago Bulls in the East's NBA playoff picture.
The Celtics have a half-game edge on the Heat after Sunday's action, and own the tiebreaker due to head-to-head record. Boston is two games behind Chicago, and while that first-round matchup against the Indiana Pacers, Milwaukee Bucks or Charlotte Bobcats would be a dream, facing the New York Knicks -- currently looking like the No. 7 seed -- would be much preferred to the solid No. 6 Philadelphia 76ers, especially for a team with a damaged offense like the C's.
The Celtics and Heat do meet one more time this season, on April 10. But Miami has a good shot at having a lead on Boston by that point. None of the Heat's next six opponents leading into that game have winning records. Four of Boston's seven do; two of those are the Bulls and Spurs, current conference leaders. PlayoffStatus.com gives the Heat better odds of capturing the No. 2 seed than the Celtics, but that comes with a caveat: Boston has better odds to grab No. 1 from Chicago. The Bulls have a schedule tougher than that of the Heat but not as rough as that of the Celtics. It's highly likely they will finish the season the East's No. 1 seed.
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Doesn’t really matter. come playoff time, we will see who are the contenders and who are the pretenders. The Miami Heat will prove what frauds they are as I’m certain that the Celtics will pick that team apart if they were to meet in the secon round.
by Jeffrey Thompson on Mar 28, 2011 10:35 AM EDT reply actions
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