Celtics Unlikely To Catch Cavs In East, Now Focused On Getting To Playoffs Healthy

It will now take a true blue Celtics run for them to catch the Cavaliers in the race for the Eastern Conference’s top seed. And even that may not be enough, as long as the Cavs continue to win.

So at this point, all the defending champs seemingly want to do is stave off the Knicks for the second seed and keep their lineup intact. Boston currently holds a three-game lead over New York for the second spot — but is eight games back of Cleveland with about 20 to go.

The Cavs have won 11 straight and will become the first team to clinch a playoff spot with a win over the Heat on Wednesday night. The Celtics (43-18) will clinch a playoff spot soon as well. How they go about these final 2o-ish regular season games, though, is all that’s left to wonder.

“After Friday’s loss to the Cavaliers, Boston’s chances of catching Cleveland for the top spot in the Eastern Conference are extremely slim,” wrote Tim Bontemps of ESPN. “The top priority for Boston over the next several weeks will be to try to make it to the postseason healthy. Jrue Holiday (finger) and Kristaps Porzingis (illness) sat out the loss against the Cavs and the win over Denver.”

But as long as Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown are healthy, the Celtics have a great shot at going places yet again. The key, of course, is keeping their stars rested and sharp for the postseason. As the defending champs, the Celtics already clearly know that.