NBA playoff picture: Are Celtics, Sixers on Round 1 collision course?
NBA playoff picture: Are Celtics, Sixers on Round 1 collision course? originally appeared on NBC Sports Boston
The Boston Celtics already have clinched the No. 1 seed in the Eastern Conference and are well on their way to wrapping up the NBA’s No. 1 overall seed, with a six-game advantage on the Western Conference-leading Oklahoma City Thunder with eight games left in the regular season.
But there’s still a reason for Celtics to scoreboard-watch down the stretch.
The bottom half of the East playoff bracket is tightening up, with a pair of perennial contenders — the Miami Heat and Philadelphia 76ers — emerging as potential first-round opponents for Boston. With Sixers star Joel Embiid reportedly expected to return from a knee injury as soon as this week, a Round 1 matchup with Philly would be a fascinating development for a Celtics team with NBA Finals aspirations.
So, what’s the likelihood that Boston draws Philly in Round 1, and which other teams are in the mix as potential opponents?
First, here’s a look at the top five in the East as of Monday morning:
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The Celtics and Milwaukee Bucks should finish as the No. 1 and No. 2 seeds, respectively. The Orlando Magic are up 1.5 games on the No. 6 Indiana Pacers, so we may not see any change in the top five aside from potential shuffling between the 3-5 seeds.
As the No. 1 seed, Boston would draw the No. 8 seed, which under the NBA’s new playoff format would be the runner-up in the East play-in tournament (aka the loser of the “winner’s bracket” game).
The play-in tournament is factored into Basketball Reference’s “Playoff Probabilities Report,” which calculates the percent likelihood of each team…
