Not to put the cart before the horse, but...

OK, now that it appears the Celtics are winning more games than they are losing, the chances of us catching Washington for the 5th seed are slim to none. That leaves 6-8. More than likely we would go up against CLE or ATL, possibly CHI. Which opponent offers us the best chance of advancing to the second round? Just curious.

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Toronto has a chance of finishing in the 3rd spot. I think Boston could give them a challenging series.
Boston has a pretty easy schedule over their last 14 games but so does Milwaukee and Miami.
If Milwaukee and Boston split their final two head to head games, Milwaukee would win the tie breaker. With Boston being 3 1/2 games behind Milwaukee, I don't think the odds are great that Boston will finish in the 6th spot.
If Boston finishes 7th or 8th, I don't think they have much of a chance of advancing to round 2.

I'd say Atlanta or Chicago more than Cleveland, but chances of advancing to the second round are ridiculously low, sort of like the Celtics chances of making the playoffs at all were at the start of the season.

Atlanta's stumbling a bit, but they'll probably get it together by the playoffs. Chicago has had so many injuries that they're perhaps more vulnerable, but Gasol and Noah would be a handful.

Who knows? Let the chips fall where they may, and rise to the occasion.

I'll just be happy if the Celtics make the playoffs.  One huge unknown is whether Isaiah Thomas and the Celtics can recapture the magic they seemed to acquire together before his injury.  Will he be the same Isaiah right away, or will he be a little tentative about literally throwing himself in action?  Will Brad and the remaining nucleus be able to depend on him for the same dynamic heroics he displayed before the injury?

I think the Celtics have been doing a really good job of finding ways to win cliffhangers in the absence of Isaiah.  However, the entire experience has given me the uneasy feeling that (although I wouldn't go so far as to agree that they've exactly "overachieved") it has seemed that a lot of stars had to align the right way for their persistent good fortune to occur.  And, in the last two games, they've been given a sobering reminder of what can happen when they go up against better teams, as they've sort of reverted to "just good enough to lose" status.

In short, there's very little room for error in their admittedly exciting move in the direction of greater relevance.  A LOT will depend on the degree of difficulty Isaiah and the rest of the team will encounter in re-blending seamlessly with one another.

They're still thinner than at any other point this season in terms of big men, and I'm not seeing a lot of indications (any?) that Kelly can consistently (ever?) fill the void with a high degree of solidarity.  Competitively, their best lineups are small ones; and that's a vulnerability that may very well be bearable only by having a lot of respites in the form of mediocre teams sprinkled throughout the schedule.  In the playoffs (IF the Celtics make them), it will be an unremitting profusion of very good opponents, exacerbated in the Celtics' case, by being at a home court disadvantage throughout.

This is not to say I'm deterred in the slightest from being very excited about the team's direction in the past few weeks.

• I do believe they've had an opportunity to experience at least a strong sniff of chemistry and (until the Thomas injury) continuity.

• They've had a good dose of what can happen when they truly trust their teammates.

• They've made some promising "finds" in terms of individual and collective talent.

• The coach has proven that, given even a modicum of talent, he can find ways to nurture a maximization of their effort.

• And they've presented Brad and Danny (if they needed it) with confirmation that an identity based on explosive energy, opportunism, plain old hard work, pace, and positive rhythm can have a fuse known as the defensive end. 

There's been a palpable and most welcome speeding up of a timetable for even greater relevance that's been facilitated by the collective efforts of Danny, Brad, and this collection of improbable rotating heroes.  And it's very likely that the single most pivotal factor in this acceleration was Danny's commitment to thumbing his nose at the sad tankmeister unfortunates by acquiring Thomas.

The bottom line for me is that this is a season in which to be grateful for small favors.  If it happens that they're using up up more than their quota of the "favor pool," so be it.  But, rather than wallow in apprehension, I intend to continue:

• enjoying every minute of pleasure this team can give us;

• obtaining huge shots of adrenaline when they pull off the improbable;

• rooting for them to win every game because it's within the realm of possibility;

• and contemplating the arrival of reinforcements from the publishing of the latest novel entitled, "How Danny Spent his Summer Vacation."

I do believe exposure to the playoffs would be a great step in the direction of solidifying a winning mentality (in which a consistent expectation of victory can spawn nearly as much collective and individual growth as victory itself).  But, whatever happens, I feel very comfortable anointing this team as having emerged as solidly within the Panthéon of Celtic tradition.  That's one of the highest compliments of which I'm capable.

I can't speak for anyone else, but perhaps—after 64 years of this, I can always benefit from learning that there are exciting ways to cultivate championship genes, even without actually winning a championship.

Go Celtics.  Then, now, and always!

Sam