Why The Boston Celtics And Toronto Raptors Could Have The Most Competitive Series Of The NBA Playoffs

The Boston Celtics and Toronto Raptors were scheduled to start their Eastern Conference Semifinals series on Friday but that meeting was delayed due to what can best be described as 2020-related reasons. In the midst ongoing protests and civil unrest across the country, there were even questions about whether the NBA playoffs would or should even continue. Eventually, the players came to an agreement to continue playing which means that Boston and Toronto will finally begin what promises to be a competitive postseason series between two teams that are in a better position than most would have expected this time last year.

Now, it might seem weird to consider the Raptors as underdogs considering that their season began with a ring ceremony. Still, this is one of the most surreal defending champions in recent basketball history. It’s not just the fact that the 2019 Finals feel like they could have happened decades ago, the extended pandemic-related hiatus has essentially made a mockery of the concept of linear time, there’s also the crucial detail that those Raptors had Kawhi Leonard. With the league’s best two-way player now with the Los Angeles Clippers, there was an understandable belief that Toronto would not be a serious championship contender.

Instead, Toronto didn’t miss a beat. Thanks in part to Pascal Siakam’s campaign to become the first person to ever win the Most Improved Player award in back-to-back years, the Raptors ended the season with a 53-19 record, just 2.5 games behind Giannis Antetokounmpo and the Milwaukee Bucks in the Eastern Conference standings. The Clippers, by contrast, ended up 49-23, although Leonard would remind you that the West remains somewhat more competitive than the East. They are currently up 3-2 on the Dallas Mavericks in the first round of the Western Conference playoffs.

Meanwhile back in the East, the 2019-20 Boston Celtics had to settle for the third seed, but still they actually ended up with a better record than last year’s incarnation of the team. Like the Raptors, the Celtics were expected to take a step back. Kyrie Irving turned heel and joined the Brooklyn Nets while Al Horford found himself understandably tempted by the Philadelphia 76ers’ massive four-year, $97 million contract. To be fair, the Celtics were able to replace Irving with Kemba Walker at the point guard position, but they still had plenty of question marks to start the season.

Instead, the Celtics found themselves a new identity centered around the dynamic duo of Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown, while Walker ended up being an all-around better fit in terms of team chemistry. As fate would have it, the Nets and 76ers ended up being the opening acts for this series. Toronto easily handled an Irving-free Brooklyn squad in the first round, while Boston took care of Philadelphia in four drama-free games. So much for this writer’s belief that Horford could be the difference-maker there.

Honestly, both of the teams were looking ahead of their first-round opponents. For both teams, the task ahead represents their greatest challenge so far. If the Celtics want to hang their head on something, there’s the fact that they went 3-for-4 against the Raptors in the regular season. Then again, the 76ers had the same record over them and it wasn’t like that ended up helping them in the slightest. Considering that the NBA season was sliced in half thanks to the coronavirus outbreak, it’s hard to know exactly what any of those previous meetings really mean. Heck, Siakam didn’t even play in two of those games, which is kind of a big deal.

It’s also worth noting that the Celtics will be without Gordon Hayward for this series thanks to an ankle injury. This means that Marcus Smart will likely be in the starting lineup, something which will directly hurt Boston’s not-entirely-dependable bench. On the other hand, it’s not entirely certain how healthy the Raptors’ Kyle Lowry will be, although his ankle situation was upgraded from “questionable” to “probable.”

To put it bluntly: this is about an evenly matched playoff series that you could possibly plan. Both the Celtics and the Raptors are good enough to deserve an appearance at the Eastern Conference Finals, but the fickle Gods of Playoff Seedings have determined that only one of them will be worthy to make it past the second round. Do not expect either team to go easy on one another and do not expect a short series.