The Celtics Season Will Resume, But What Will They Be Playing For?

After several months in basketball limbo, the Boston Celtics have officially found out when they will be playing basketball and who exactly they will be playing against. With that settled, the Celtics now have to figure out what exactly they want to accomplish in the eight games remaining in this pandemic-shortened regular season.

The Celtics will start off with their toughest challenge, a July 31^st game against the Milwaukee Bucks, who have the top seed in the Eastern Conference all but locked up. After that game, which promises to be a dramatic one, the Celtics will play the Portland Trail Blazers, Miami Heat, Brooklyn Nets, Toronto Raptors, Orlando Magic, Memphis Grizzlies and the Washington Wizards. Theoretically, the second seed could still be in play, at least until their game against the Raptors. Should they lose that one, their longshot odds would dwindle to zero.

MORE FROM FORBESNBA’s Walt Disney World Schedule Works In Celtics’ Favor Ahead Of PlayoffsBy Chris Grenham

In truth, they shouldn’t really be looking to overtake the Raptors as much as they should just try to win enough to avoid falling from the third slot. As of now, they have a two game lead over the Heat in the win column. Even if they do stumble it wouldn’t be a disaster. As we’ve discussed before, home court advantage doesn’t really come into play when you’re holding all of your games at Walt Disney World. In theory, the Celtics would like the easiest possible path to the Conference Finals, but, given the circumstances, we might not even really know what that would be. After such a long layoff, those win-loss records might not mean much when basketball action resumes at the end of July.

This, in fact, leads us directly to why these games will be incredibly important for Boston. The current standings might as well be relics from a bygone era, the real story for the Celtics will be whether or not they will be the same impressive team after a hiatus that essentially doubled as a de facto offseason. It might make more sense for fans to approach this coming stretch of games as if they were just unusually competitive warmups. The fact that the stands will be entirely devoid of fans will only reinforce that idea.

There is at least one reason for Celtics fans to be optimistic: they might finally see all of their key players healthy and sharing the same court, something we didn’t see that much of before the hiatus. Before the coronavirus pandemic slammed the breaks on the season, the Celtics were having a devil of a time keeping their key players from getting injuries. So, these upcoming games might not just be about the Celtics shaking the rust out, they could actually be our first extended look at what they are with everyone healthy.

One thing is certain here, these eight games will essentially be preparation for the ones that truly count, those in the playoffs. The Celtics’ first goal is not losing any important players, something which will be trickier than usual considering the quick turnaround. After that, they will need to make sure they have the same chemistry that was developing before the shutdown. After that, it’s all about heading into the postseason with a little momentum. How they begin this next stretch of games might matter a whole lot less than how they end up finishing them.