The Boston Celtics turned into a virtual tie for the no.
That win combined with a loss to the Philadelphia 76ers against the Toronto Raptors on Sunday equaled the Celtics in the standings with Philadelphia with three weeks left in the regular season.
Boston has shot the East Conference standings in the last two months, improving from 11th seed to No. 3 in the East after winning 26 of its last 33 games. Boston also sits just half a game behind the Milwaukee Bucks on Monday for the No. 2 seed after the Bucks lost Saturday night to the Timberwolves.
The Celtics have at the moment put complete control over their fate for the number 2 with a 3-0 start to their current road trip thanks to tiebreaker advantages. They hold an edge already in head-to-head over the 76ers, Cavs and Nets. They are also in a position to await the season series win over the Bucks, Bulls, Heat and Raptors with driving head-to-head matchups awaiting next week.
| Team | Win | Extinguisher | Playing male |
|---|---|---|---|
| Miami Heat | 47 | 24 | |
| Milwaukee Bucks | 44 | 27 | 3 |
| Philadelphia 76ers | 43 | 27 | 3.5 |
| Boston Celtics | 44 | 28 | 3.5 |
| Chicago Bulls | 41 | 29 | 5.5 |
| Cleveland Cavaliers | 41 | 30 | 6 |
| Toronto Raptors | 40 | 31 | 7 |
| Brooklyn Nets | 37 | 34 | 10 |
Analysis: The Celtics have another easy start to the game with the Oklahoma City Thunder on Monday night, opening the door for them to come away with a victory in second place in the East. The team had the fewest remaining players (10) of any Eastern Conference team with a 5/5 gap between home and away matches.
Meanwhile, the 76ers will face the heat on Monday night at the Wells Fargo Center, which opens the door for Boston and other top seeds to get closer to the No. 1 spot in the East with a Sixers victory.
The intriguing subplot in this ranking in this next track is how hard teams like Boston push for the No. 2 seed with the probability that a first round matchup with the Nets could wait. Brooklyn seems determined to stay in the play-in tournament at this point with a four-game gap between them and the No. 6 seed Cleveland with 11 games to stay. Chicago and Cleveland are both struggling to fall to No. 7 overall instead of Toronto, leading them to organize that play-in matchup and field as potential first-round opponents for Boston.
For the moment, Jaylen Brown and his Celtics teammates have simply focused on the moment rather than looking ahead to what might be in the standings.
“I think it feels good,” Brown said of the winning streak. “But I will continue to say, just take one game at a time. Our goal is to keep getting better and the things we need to get better, it’s not about the other team, and tonight we wanted to come out and prove it. and that’s it. And we just have to take it one game at a time, stay healthy, and then the sky’s the limit. Beyond that sky, to be honest. So I’m excited. We just have to take one game at a time, that’s it.
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