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Community Shootaround: Eastern Conference First-Round Series

May 25th, 2021 at 4:00pm CST by Luke Adams

As we discussed on Monday, the postseason is off to a fascinating start in the Western Conference, where the underdogs in all four series won Game One. The results in the Eastern Conference haven’t been quite as surprising so far.

The No. 1 Sixers and No. 2 Nets took care of the Wizards and Celtics in their respective Game Ones. Although Washington and Boston were competitive, the star power of the higher seeds may be too much for the two play-in teams — Joel Embiid and Tobias Harris racked up a combined 67 points for Philadelphia on Sunday, while Kevin Durant, Kyrie Irving, and James Harden scored 82 of Brooklyn’s 104 points on Saturday.

Meanwhile, after upsetting the Bucks in last year’s second round, the Heat have dug themselves a 2-0 hole in this year’s first round, and Monday’s loss was especially one-sided. Milwaukee poured in 46 first-quarter points and 22 total three-pointers en route to a blowout victory.

Based on what we’ve seen so far, the most exciting Eastern Conference series in the first round should be the one featuring two teams that have spent the last few years out of the postseason. The Knicks and Hawks went down to the wire on Sunday, with Trae Young clinching an Atlanta victory by hitting a floater with less than a second left in regulation.

The Celtics, Wizards, and Heat still have plenty of time to turn things around, but oddsmakers view it as a long shot that any of these three clubs will pull off a comeback. BetOnline.ag currently lists the Nets as -2750 favorites, meaning that if you want to bet on Brooklyn to win the series, you’d have to risk $2,750 in order to win just $100. The Sixers (-1800) and Bucks (-1000) are also heavy favorites.

The Hawks’ Game 1 upset has made them the frontrunners over the Knicks, but Vegas still views that series as practically a toss-up compared to the other three — Atlanta is only a -255 favorite.

We want to know what you think. Will the East’s top three seeds hold on and win their respective series with relative ease, or will the Celtics, Wizards, and/or Heat come alive and make things interesting? Do you expect a long series between the Hawks and Knicks? Who are you picking to win that one?

Head to the comment section below to share your thoughts!

What Should Celtics Do With Williams?

May 24th, 2021 at 7:58pm CST by Dana Gauruder

Robert Williams presents the Celtics with a dilemma this offseason, Chris Forsberg of NBC Sports Boston notes. They could try to negotiate a modest rookie extension, which wouldn’t kick in until the 2022/23 season. If that doesn’t happen, his price tag could rise. Williams has had trouble staying on the court due to hip ailments but the 23-year-old big man might just be scratching the surface of his potential, Forsberg adds.

Celtics’ G League Affiliate Changing Name

May 24th, 2021 at 10:00am CST by Luke Adams

The Maine Red Claws will be rebranded for the 2021/22 season. The Celtics announced today that their G League affiliate will no longer be called the Maine Red Claws and will instead be known as the Maine Celtics going forward.

The team previously known as the Red Claws has been affiliated with the Celtics since 2012. However, Boston and Maine only had a hybrid affiliation for several years before the Celtics purchased the G League team outright in 2019. Maine had been one of the last independently owned NBAGL franchises before becoming the 26th club to be owned by an NBA team.

“When we purchased the Maine franchise in 2019, we immediately made that organization a part of our family,” Celtics president Rich Gotham said in a statement today. “The decision to rename the team to ‘Maine Celtics’ is the next step in that evolution, and a nod to our diehard fan base, which extends throughout the great start of Maine.”

It has become increasingly common for an NBA franchise to rebrand its G League team by giving it the same nickname as its parent club. The Nets, Clippers, Knicks, Magic, Spurs, Raptors, Lakers, Suns, Kings, and Bulls all share their nicknames with their respective G League teams, while the Timberwolves’ NBAGL affiliate is known as the Wolves.

The Maine Celtics’ new logo can be seen right here.

Celtics Increasing Crowd Capacity

May 23rd, 2021 at 7:31pm CST by JD Shaw

The Celtics are increasing their crowd capacity for Game 3 against the Nets on Friday, according to Chris Mannix of Sports Illustrated (Twitter link). Boston will be at “near full” capacity for Game 4, which is set to commence next Sunday.
Sixers head coach Doc Rivers has turned his star-studded team into winners, Keith Pompey of the Philadelphia Inquirer writes. Rivers holds several years of coaching experience and memorably guided the Celtics to a championship in 2008. He was also named the NBA’s Coach of the Year with Orlando in 2000.

Celtics Notes: Fournier, R. Williams, Thompson, Irving

May 22nd, 2021 at 7:30pm CST by Arthur Hill

The Celtics were expecting to use Evan Fournier in a sixth-man role for the playoffs, but an injury to Jaylen Brown changed those plans, writes Souichi Terada of MassLive. With Brown unavailable after having surgery for a torn wrist ligament, Fournier will be part of the starting lineup in the first-round series against the Nets.

Acquired from the Magic at the trade deadline, Fournier has been productive since returning from the league’s health and safety protocols. In 16 games with the Celtics, he is averaging 13.0 points, 3.3 rebounds and 3.1 assists per night and shooting a sizzling 46.3% from three-point range. Fournier’s time in Orlando gave him some experience in approaching the playoffs as a low-seeded team.

“There’s no secret,” he said. “Being the lowest seed playing against the No. 1 or second seed, you just have to compete against them. When you play the best teams in the NBA, you have to compete. You have to show them that everything they’re going to get is hard.”

There’s more on the Celtics:

Center Robert Williams is available to play tonight, tweets Tim Bontemps of ESPN. Williams had to leave Tuesday’s play-in game against the Wizards because of turf toe and sat out Friday’s practice.
Due to Williams’ unpredictable status, the Celtics will have to rely more heavily on veteran big man Tristan Thompson, notes Mark Murphy of The Boston Herald. Boston signed Thompson as a free agent during the offseason to add a veteran with plenty of playoff experience to its front court. “I think that his role probably looms large regardless,” coach Brad Stevens said.
The matchup with the Nets will give Boston fans plenty of opportunity to vent their anger at Kyrie Irving, the former Celtic who told season ticket holders in 2018 that he was planning to re-sign with the team, Murphy adds in a separate story. President of basketball operations Danny Ainge believes Irving was sincere at the time and speculated that changing circumstances prompted him to reconsider his pledge. “No grudges, no second-guessing,” Ainge said. “I just wish him well. He was a player that came through this organization. I appreciate how talented he was, how much he wanted to win, and I’m grateful for the experience to get to know him.”
The Celtics plan to increase their crowd size for Game 3 of the playoff series and hope to be “near full” capacity for Game 4, tweets Chris Mannix of Sports Illustrated.

Robert Williams Misses Friday's Practice

May 21st, 2021 at 6:31pm CST by Dana Gauruder

Celtics big man Robert Williams sat out Friday’s practice due to a turf toe injury, Tim Bontemps of ESPN tweets. However, he’s expected to play in Game 1 against Brooklyn, sources told Shams Charania of Stadium (video link). Williams saw 14 minutes of action in the play-in victory over Washington.

Latest On NBA’s Lottery Standings, Draft Order

May 21st, 2021 at 8:02am CST by Luke Adams

On Monday, we took an in-depth look at what we knew about the NBA’s 2021 draft lottery standings and projected draft order so far based on the regular season standings, and what was still to be determined based on play-in results, random tiebreakers, and the lottery results.

With the play-in tournament nearly over, we can fill in a few more gaps. Let’s dive in…

Lottery standings

Having been eliminated from playoff contention, the Pacers will be at No. 13 in the lottery standings, giving them a 1% chance at the first overall pick and a 4.8% shot at a top-five selection, per Tankathon.

A tiebreaker will be necessary to determine whether the Spurs or Hornets get the edge in the lottery standings, but they’ll occupy the Nos. 11 and 12 spots in the lottery standings. The winner of the tiebreaker – to be conducted next Tuesday – will have a slightly higher chance of earning the first overall pick (1.8% to 1.7%) and a top-four pick (8.5% to 8.0%).

The No. 14 spot in the lottery will be held by the loser of Friday’s Warriors/Grizzlies play-in game.

Draft order

Having clinched playoff spots, the Wizards and Celtics will draft 15th and 16th, respectively, in the first round.

The winner of tonight’s Warriors/Grizzlies play-in game will draft 17th, while the Lakers will be part of a Tuesday tiebreaker to determine their exact position — they could draft as high as 21st and as low as 23rd.

If the Lakers had missed the postseason, teams like the Heat, Knicks, and Hawks each would have been pushed down one spot in the draft. Since L.A. made it, those teams will stay put, starting with Miami at No. 18.

Notable traded second-round picks

On Monday, we focused on what would happen with 2021’s traded first-round picks. So many of this year’s second-round picks have been traded that we’re not going to run through all of them in this space (you can check our tracker for the full details), but here are a few notable second-round swaps worth flagging:

The Pacers traded their second-round pick to the Nets with 45-60 protection. Because Indiana’s second-rounder is going to land at No. 44, that pick will be sent to Brooklyn rather than being protected.

The Bulls, who will be involved in a first-round tiebreaker with the Pelicans (and Kings) to determine their spots in the lottery standings, also have the ability to swap second-round picks with New Orleans. In the event of a random tiebreaker, the second-round order is always the inverse of the first-round order — for instance, if Team A wins a first-round tiebreaker over Team B, then Team B would get the higher pick in the second round. But in this case, the Bulls could win the first-round tiebreaker, then use their second-round swap to make sure they pick ahead of the Pelicans in both rounds.

Because the Warriors‘ first-round pick will fall in the top 20, Golden State will keep it and will instead have to send the Timberwolves’ second-round pick to the Thunder to complete last year’s Kelly Oubre trade. That pick will be No. 36.

The Suns had agreed to send their second-round pick to the Grizzlies if it landed between 31-35 and to the Nets if it landed between 36-60. It’ll go to Brooklyn, since it’s the No. 59 overall selection. Memphis is simply out of luck, as Phoenix’s obligation to the Grizzlies is now extinguished.

The Bucks will get the first pick of the second round (No. 31), since the Rockets have the ability to swap their second-rounder for Milwaukee’s first-rounder (No. 24).

Other early second-round picks that will change hands include the Pistons‘ No. 32 pick (to the Knicks), the Cavaliers‘ pick at either No. 34 or 35 (to the Pelicans), and the Raptors‘ No. 37 pick (to the Pistons).

Robert Williams Day-To-Day With Toe Injury

May 20th, 2021 at 4:00pm CST by Luke Adams

Celtics big man Robert Williams is considered day-to-day due to his nagging toe injury, tweets Chris Forsberg of NBC Sports Boston. Williams didn’t practice today and head coach Brad Stevens doesn’t expect him to return to practice on Friday either.

Woj: Stevens' Job Never In Jeopardy

May 19th, 2021 at 8:31am CST by Luke Adams

Even before the Celtics won their play-in game on Tuesday, the idea that Brad Stevens‘ job might be in any jeopardy was “just not accurate,” despite the team’s up-and-down season, according to ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski (video link).

Poll: Eastern Conference Play-In Games

May 17th, 2021 at 12:48pm CST by Luke Adams

The NBA’s 2021 play-in tournament will tip off on Tuesday night, when the No. 9 Pacers face the No. 10 Hornets in Indiana, followed by the No. 7 Celtics hosting the No. 8 Wizards in Boston.

By the end of the night, one team – either Boston or Washington – will have secured the No. 7 seed, earning a first-round date with the Nets. And one team – either Indiana or Charlotte – will be eliminated from postseason contention altogether.

The Pacers/Hornets matchup would be a little more intriguing if both teams were at full strength. Unfortunately, the Pacers will be without one of their top scorers (T.J. Warren) and are expected to be missing their defensive anchor (Myles Turner) as well. The Hornets, meanwhile, have gotten a little healthier as of late, but still don’t have their $120MM man (Gordon Hayward) available.

That doesn’t mean Indiana and Charlotte can’t play an entertaining game though. LaMelo Ball will be looking to put the finishing touches on a Rookie of the Year caliber season, while Nate Bjorkgren may be coaching for his job. Neither team will want its season to come to an end on Tuesday.

As for the headlining contest of the night, the fact that the Wizards are even involved in this game is pretty incredible. Washington started off the season with a 6-17 record and was 17-32 in early April. Since then, the team has reeled off 17 wins in 23 games, securing the No. 8 spot for the play-in tournament and looking a whole lot more dangerous as of late than the reeling Celtics.

The Celtics made the Eastern Conference Finals last season and entered the year with the aspirations of making another deep playoff run. It has been an up-and-down season in Boston though, and it has been trending down as of late. The C’s finished the season by losing nine of their last 13 games, and their only four wins in that stretch came against sub-.500 teams. With Jaylen Brown out for the season, the club will be shorthanded as it looks to secure a playoff spot.

Still, while the Wizards aren’t missing any top players, Bradley Beal continues to deal with a hamstring injury and isn’t at 100% entering the play-in tournament, as Ohm Youngmisuk of ESPN writes. If the Eastern Conference’s leading scorer doesn’t look like his usual self, it may be an uphill battle for the Wizards to pick up a win in Boston.

We want to know what you think. Which teams will win the two Eastern Conference play-in games on Tuesday? Make your picks in the polls below, then head to the comment section to weigh in on which club will win Thursday’s play-in game to claim the No. 8 seed.

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