Playoff Seeding Updates and Magic Numbers Countdown

Late season injuries are killers.

Out West I am ready to put a strike line through the T'Wolves. Naz Reid will start in place of KAT but their twin tower configuration will be missing. They still have enough talent to win some games but with OKC maintaining their position and Denver surging (now in 2nd place) MN is very likely to drop in the standings. probably all the way down to 4. They have to play Denver 3 more times.

OKC has a few real tough matchups to play (Celtics, Bucks (2), Knicks, Sixers to name a few.

Overall, I do not see any team catching the Celtics for home court advantage.

Key games tonight:

Sixers @ NY.  Intra-divisional game between #4 and #6.  Either one moves a Magic Number

Pacers @ OKC.

Celtics @ Utah

Minny @ Clippers. Not really key, neither of them are in 1st or 2nd place in their Conference, but it isn't over until it's over. I agree with DBoss' assessment of Minny, and yet they have continued to win.


A Celtic win and an OKC loss would be best, but I'm not betting against OKC at home vs Indy.

On the other hand we saw how well I did the last time I tried to predict the day's winners.  


Bob

.

PLAYOFF SEEDING UPDATE, AFTER GAMES 3/12/24


We won and Milwaukee AND OKC both lost.  This is the best possible results for us short of Denver losing too, but they didn't play tonight.  

NY beat Philly.

Indy beat OKC in OKC.  Like I said, don't listen to me.  

Minny beat the Clippers in LA.  They are 1/2 game behind OKC and Denver, 1 in the loss column.




Team............................Season Records............Games Back (loss column).............Conference Records...........Conference Games Back (loss column)
Boston..........................51-14..........................------------- (-------------)..............33-7................................-------------
Oklahoma City...............45-20...........................6 (6)..........................................28-15...............................7 (eight)
Denver.........................45-20............................6 (6).........................................N/A..................................N/A
Minnesota.....................45-21...........................6 1/2 (7)....................................31-11...............................3 (4)
Milwaukee....................42-23............................9 1/2 (10)..................................29-13...............................5 (6)
Cleveland.....................41-24...........................10 (10)..........,............................N/A..................................N/A

Denver and Cleveland are N/A for Conference Records because we own the 1st tiebreaker (H2H) vs Cleveland and lost the first tiebreaker vs Denver.  Cleveland needs to have a better regular season record than us to earn #1 while Denver only needs to tie us.  If Denver overtakes OKC for the #1 seed in the West that tiebreaker edge over us will affect the Magic Number.  If they don't then the Magic Number is vs OKC or Minny.


MAGIC NUMBERS (COMBINATION OF CELTIC WINS AND OPPONENT'S LOSSES TOTALING THE NUMBER).  17 GAMES LEFT FOR US:

Play-in Berth clinched.


Sean Grande just put out a tweet that provides the Magic Numbers.  I'm just going to use and update his as games are played, but I don't care about #2 or #3 or #5 seeds.  For me, after we're in the playoffs, it's all about home court.



CELTICS MAGIC NUMBERS
Overall 1-seed: 12 (OKC)
1-seed: 9 (Milwaukee)
2-seed: 7 (Cleveland)
3-seed: 3 (New York)
4-seed: 3 (Orlando)
Playoffs: 2 (Indiana)
Play-in: Clinched (February 27)


2 - number to guarantee a playoff berth with a 6th seed, currently held by Philly @ 36-28.  14 loss lead.  If we lose the next 14 games, and they win their next 14, we're tied with 4 left.  That means we would need to have some combo of wins and their losses totaling 2 out of 4.  Therefore our MN is 2, right?  

3 - number to guarantee a home court series with 4th seed, currently Knicks @ 37-27.  We own all the tiebreakers. They need to beat us, not tie us.  A 12 loss lead.  If we lose the next 12, and they win their next 12, we're tied with 6 left.  We need a combo of wins and their losses totaling 3, so our MN is 3?

9 - number to guarantee #1 seed and home court in the East.  Bucks are now #2 @ 42-24.  Our H2H vs Bucks is 1-1, 2-1 vs Cavs.  We have 2 more games against the Bucks and none vs Cavs.  A regular season tie vs Cleveland still keeps our #1 seed.  A regular season tie vs Milwaukee depends upon the results of our two remaining H2Hs.  

12 - number to guarantee #1 seed and home court all the way through the playoffs to #18.  OKC @ 45-19. Denver has crept up to 44-20 and own the H2H tiebreaker against us. That means if they catch us, tie us, they're #1.  If OKC wins in Boston on 4/3 they will own the H2H tiebreaker too.  18-5=13.  Because we still have a game vs OKC that tiebreaker is undecided.  


Bob


.

bobh,

I was about to challenge you, but all the above depends on where you're looking! I was thinking that our number for the first two above should be 2 since we won and the Bucks lost. You're good, though! Keep up the great work! You'll be dropping the top 2 soon enough.

db

BTW, just to add another layer of confusion, are the GSW ever going to make up the two games they postponed?  DAL and Utah.  Utah game no one cares since they are not playoff bound yet GSW would need all the help they can get.  But DAL game could turn out to be huge in the Play-in quicksand.  I'm going to guess from the 2 games GSW is behind LAL in the win column, the answer is "no" but I could be wrong as I have not been paying attention.

Jazz game has been made up 2/15.  DAL game is 4/2.  OK.  All is good.  Just FYI in case anyone cares.

db

P.S. Don't like what I'm seeing in the standings with both MIA AND PHI below the 6th place Mendoza Line. They need to straddle or both be above it.

bobheckler wrote:PLAYOFF SEEDING UPDATE, AFTER GAMES 3/12/24


We won and Milwaukee AND OKC both lost.  This is the best possible results for us short of Denver losing too, but they didn't play tonight.  

NY beat Philly.

Indy beat OKC in OKC.  Like I said, don't listen to me.  

Minny beat the Clippers in LA.  They are 1/2 game behind OKC and Denver, 1 in the loss column.




Team............................Season Records............Games Back (loss column).............Conference Records...........Conference Games Back (loss column)
Boston..........................51-14..........................------------- (-------------)..............33-7................................-------------
Oklahoma City...............45-20...........................6 (6)..........................................28-15...............................7 (eight)
Denver.........................45-20............................6 (6).........................................N/A..................................N/A
Minnesota.....................45-21...........................6 1/2 (7)....................................31-11...............................3 (4)
Milwaukee....................42-23............................9 1/2 (10)..................................29-13...............................5 (6)
Cleveland.....................41-24...........................10 (10)..........,............................N/A..................................N/A

Denver and Cleveland are N/A for Conference Records because we own the 1st tiebreaker (H2H) vs Cleveland and lost the first tiebreaker vs Denver.  Cleveland needs to have a better regular season record than us to earn #1 while Denver only needs to tie us.  If Denver overtakes OKC for the #1 seed in the West that tiebreaker edge over us will affect the Magic Number.  If they don't then the Magic Number is vs OKC or Minny.


MAGIC NUMBERS (COMBINATION OF CELTIC WINS AND OPPONENT'S LOSSES TOTALING THE NUMBER).  17 GAMES LEFT FOR US:

Play-in Berth clinched.


Sean Grande just put out a tweet that provides the Magic Numbers.  I'm just going to use and update his as games are played, but I don't care about #2 or #3 or #5 seeds.  For me, after we're in the playoffs, it's all about home court.



CELTICS MAGIC NUMBERS
Overall 1-seed: 12 (OKC)
1-seed: 9 (Milwaukee)
2-seed: 7 (Cleveland)
3-seed: 3 (New York)
4-seed: 3 (Orlando)
Playoffs: 3 (Indiana)
Play-in: Clinched (February 27)


3 - number to guarantee a playoff berth with a 6th seed, currently held by Philly @ 36-28.  14 loss lead.  If we lose the next 14 games, and they win their next 14, we're tied with 4 left.  That means we would need to have some combo of wins and their losses totaling 2 out of 4.  Therefore our MN is 2, right?  

3 - number to guarantee a home court series with 4th seed, currently Knicks @ 37-27.  We own all the tiebreakers. They need to beat us, not tie us.  A 12 loss lead.  If we lose the next 12, and they win their next 12, we're tied with 6 left.  We need a combo of wins and their losses totaling 3, so our MN is 3?

9 - number to guarantee #1 seed and home court in the East.  Bucks are now #2 @ 42-24.  Our H2H vs Bucks is 1-1, 2-1 vs Cavs.  We have 2 more games against the Bucks and none vs Cavs.  A regular season tie vs Cleveland still keeps our #1 seed.  A regular season tie vs Milwaukee depends upon the results of our two remaining H2Hs.  

12 - number to guarantee #1 seed and home court all the way through the playoffs to #18.  OKC @ 45-19. Denver has crept up to 44-20 and own the H2H tiebreaker against us. That means if they catch us, tie us, they're #1.  If OKC wins in Boston on 4/3 they will own the H2H tiebreaker too.  18-5=13.  Because we still have a game vs OKC that tiebreaker is undecided.  


Bob


.

DBrown,

I started working off of Sean Grande's numbers because I was unsure of my own, however, here's my thoughts on that:

1. Orlando is 14 games behind us. We have 17 games left. That means if we win 3 out of 17 (and they went on a 17 game winning streak), we'd be tied. Because we own the tiebreakers tying is all we'd need to do which means that our Magic Number with them is 3.

2. Indy has 29 losses, 15 more than us, and we are tied with H2H @ 2-2. With 17 games left our Magic Number should be 2.

I will correct the record. Thank you.


Bob


.

Per Sean Grande 3/12/24, post Jazz game.  I don't understand how our Magic Numbers against Denver and OKC can be the same when they have identical records, Denver owns the first tiebreaker but OKC's is still undetermined?  We need to have a BETTER regular season record than Denver to clinch #1 Overall but if we beat OKC in April then we only need to tie them.

This is why he gets paid the big bucks, I guess.





Bob


.

PLAYOFF SEEDING UPDATE, AFTER GAMES 3/13/24


Just a quick one tonight because there weren't a lot of impactful games and nothing materially changed.


Orlando beat Brooklyn.  Magic Number to clinch 4th is unchanged @ 3.

Chicago beat the Pacers.  Magic Number for a Playoff berth is unchanged @ 2.  Philly has a 1/2 game over Indy, but our MN is unchanged.  It's just vs Philly.

Nuggets won.  Magic Number to clinch #1 overall is unchanged @ 12.  Denver has a 1/2 game lead over OKC, but our MN is unchanged.  It's just vs Denver.

Cleveland won.  Magic Number to clinch #3 is unchanged.








Bob


.

PLAYOFF SEEDING UPDATE, AFTER GAMES 3/14/24:


We won, so every Magic Number is decreased by one just for that regardless of what any other team does.

Bucks won.



Team............................Season Records............Games Back (loss column).............Conference Records...........Conference Games Back (loss column)
Boston..........................51-14..........................------------- (-------------)..............33-7................................-------------
Denver.........................46-20............................5 1/2 (6)....................................N/A..................................N/A
Oklahoma City...............45-20...........................6 (6)..........................................28-15...............................7 (eight)
Minnesota.....................45-21...........................6 1/2 (7)....................................31-11...............................3 (4)
Milwaukee....................43-24............................9 1/2 (10)..................................29-13...............................5 (6)
Cleveland.....................42-24...........................10 (10)..........,............................N/A..................................N/A

Denver and Cleveland are N/A for Conference Records because we own the 1st tiebreaker (H2H) vs Cleveland and lost the first tiebreaker vs Denver.  Cleveland needs to have a better regular season record than us to earn #1 while Denver only needs to tie us.  If Denver overtakes OKC for the #1 seed in the West that tiebreaker edge over us will affect the Magic Number.  If they don't then the Magic Number is vs OKC or Minny.


MAGIC NUMBERS (COMBINATION OF CELTIC WINS AND OPPONENT'S LOSSES TOTALING THE NUMBER).  17 GAMES LEFT FOR US:

Play-in Berth clinched.


Sean Grande just put out a tweet that provides the Magic Numbers.  I'm just going to use and update his as games are played, but I don't care about #2 or #3 or #5 seeds.  For me, after we're in the playoffs, it's all about home court.



CELTICS MAGIC NUMBERS
Overall 1-seed: 11 (Denver)
1-seed: 8 (Milwaukee)
2-seed: 6 (Cleveland)
3-seed: 2 (New York)
4-seed: 2 (Orlando)
Playoffs: 1 (Indiana)
Play-in: Clinched (February 27)


1 - number to guarantee a playoff berth with a 6th seed, currently held by Philly @ 36-28.  14 loss lead.  If we lose the next 14 games, and they win their next 14, we're tied with 4 left.  That means we would need to have some combo of wins and their losses totaling 2 out of 4.  Therefore our MN is 2, right?  

2 - number to guarantee a home court series with 4th seed, currently Knicks @ 37-27.  We own all the tiebreakers. They need to beat us, not tie us.  A 12 loss lead.  If we lose the next 12, and they win their next 12, we're tied with 6 left.  We need a combo of wins and their losses totaling 3, so our MN is 3?

8 - number to guarantee #1 seed and home court in the East.  Bucks are now #2 @ 42-24.  Our H2H vs Bucks is 1-1, 2-1 vs Cavs.  We have 2 more games against the Bucks and none vs Cavs.  A regular season tie vs Cleveland still keeps our #1 seed.  A regular season tie vs Milwaukee depends upon the results of our two remaining H2Hs.  

11 - number to guarantee #1 seed and home court all the way through the playoffs to #18.  OKC @ 45-19. Denver has crept up to 44-20 and own the H2H tiebreaker against us. That means if they catch us, tie us, they're #1.  If OKC wins in Boston on 4/3 they will own the H2H tiebreaker too.  18-5=13.  Because we still have a game vs OKC that tiebreaker is undecided.  


Bob


.

Bobh,
I believe Sean Grande is a bit behind.
PHI (7th seed) is 36-30 so, we did clinch playoff spot.
Also, OKC and DEN are 46-20.

AK

sinus007 wrote:Bobh,
I believe Sean Grande is a bit behind.
PHI (7th seed) is 36-30 so, we did clinch playoff spot.
Also, OKC and DEN are 46-20.

AK

Sinus,

I just realized that the loss by Philly last night took our Magic Number vs them for the playoffs down to 0. I will adjust my scoring.

Thanks for highlighting that. Maybe next time it won't occur to me.


Bob


.

NEW AND IMPROVED MAGIC NUMBERS AS OF, PRE-GAMES, 3/15/24:



MAGIC NUMBERS (COMBINATION OF CELTIC WINS AND OPPONENT'S LOSSES TOTALING THE NUMBER).  16 GAMES LEFT FOR US:

Play-in Berth clinched.
Playoff Berth clinched.



CELTICS MAGIC NUMBERS
Overall 1-seed: 11 (Denver)
1-seed: 8 (Milwaukee)
2-seed: 6 (Cleveland)
3-seed: 2 (New York)
4-seed: 2 (Orlando)
Playoffs: Clinched (March 14)
Play-in: Clinched (February 27)


Bob



.

8 at home and 8 on the road including the upcoming 6 game road trip.

The remining Games that I am most interested in are the 2 vs the Bucks, the revenge game vs OKC and one more vs NYK. We only have 2 difficult road games remaining (Nola and Milwaukee)

I can easily see a 6-2 remaining road record and a 6-2 at home. 12-4 would give us a 64-18 record. We do not know when CJ will call the dogs back from the hunt. The Celtics goal will be to secure the #1 seed throughout the playoffs. Anything after that is gravy.

The only relevant games tonight are:

Orlando @ Toronto
Denver @ San Antonio


I have little to no hope for either home team.  If I am correct all the Magic Numbers will be unchanged tomorrow.

Tomorrow is a long travel day for me, so this is my pre-update update.


Bob


.

MAGIC NUMBERS AS OF, POST-GAMES, 3/15/24:



MAGIC NUMBERS (COMBINATION OF CELTIC WINS AND OPPONENT'S LOSSES TOTALING THE NUMBER).  16 GAMES LEFT FOR US:

Play-in Berth clinched.
Playoff Berth clinched.



CELTICS MAGIC NUMBERS
Overall 1-seed: 11 (Denver)
1-seed: 8 (Milwaukee)
2-seed: 6 (Cleveland)
3-seed: 2 (New York)
4-seed: 2 (Orlando)
Playoffs: Clinched (March 14)
Play-in: Clinched (February 27)


Bob



.

MAGIC NUMBERS AS OF, POST-GAMES, 3/16/24:


Houston crushed Cleveland in Houston by 14, and it wasn't that close.  

OKC won.

NY won.



MAGIC NUMBERS (COMBINATION OF CELTIC WINS AND OPPONENT'S LOSSES TOTALING THE NUMBER).  16 GAMES LEFT FOR US:

Play-in Berth clinched.
Playoff Berth clinched.



CELTICS MAGIC NUMBERS
Overall 1-seed: 11 (Denver & OKC)
1-seed: 8 (Milwaukee)
2-seed: 5 (Cleveland)
3-seed: 2 (New York)
4-seed: 2 (Orlando)
Playoffs: Clinched (March 14)
Play-in: Clinched (February 27)


Bob



.

MAGIC NUMBERS AS OF, POST-GAMES, 3/17/24:


Jrue Holiday, Jayson Tatum and the bench mob destroyed Washington.

Milwaukee won.  I love IT but I don't think he's going to save Phoenix.

Dallas was up 11+ with half the 4th to go and hung on to beat Denver in Dallas.  Denver scares the shite outta me, I'm not gonna lie.  They came back and took a 3 point lead with 26.8 seconds left.  Luka with a 3 and Kyrie with a 21' right-to-left one-handed buzzer beater for the win.  Dallas is 1/2 game behind OKC.  Good.

Orlando won.



MAGIC NUMBERS (COMBINATION OF CELTIC WINS AND OPPONENT'S LOSSES TOTALING THE NUMBER).  15 GAMES LEFT FOR US:

Play-in Berth clinched.
Playoff Berth clinched.



CELTICS MAGIC NUMBERS
Overall 1-seed: 10 (OKC)
1-seed: 7 (Milwaukee)
2-seed: 4 (Cleveland)
3-seed: 1 (New York)
4-seed: 1 (Orlando)
Playoffs: Clinched (March 14)
Play-in: Clinched (February 27)


Bob



.

bobheckler wrote:MAGIC NUMBERS AS OF, POST-GAMES, 3/17/24:


Jrue Holiday, Jayson Tatum and the bench mob destroyed Washington.

Milwaukee won.  I love IT but I don't think he's going to save Phoenix.

Dallas was up 11+ with half the 4th to go and hung on to beat Denver in Dallas.  Denver scares the shite outta me, I'm not gonna lie.  They came back and took a 3 point lead with 26.8 seconds left.  Luka with a 3 and Kyrie with a 21' right-to-left one-handed buzzer beater for the win.  Dallas is 1/2 game behind OKC.  Good.

Orlando won.



MAGIC NUMBERS (COMBINATION OF CELTIC WINS AND OPPONENT'S LOSSES TOTALING THE NUMBER).  15 GAMES LEFT FOR US:

Play-in Berth clinched.
Playoff Berth clinched.



CELTICS MAGIC NUMBERS
Overall 1-seed: 10 (OKC)
1-seed: 7 (Milwaukee)
2-seed: 4 (Cleveland)
3-seed: 1 (New York)
4-seed: 1 (Orlando)
Playoffs: Clinched (March 14)
Play-in: Clinched (February 27)


Bob



.

Dallas was actually up 13, not 11, with a little more than six minutes to go (6:18) and Kyrie missed a three-pointer that would have put them up 16. If it had gone in I was going to consider the game over for the Mavericks at that point with that healthy a lead. But it didn't and Denver made a ferocious comeback which, like you said, had them ahead by three with about 27 seconds left. Then Luka hit a long straightaway three to tie it, Murray missed leaving several seconds on the clock and Luka inbounded to Kyrie who hit that insane, 20-foot left-handed, running hook/floater at the buzzer. What a shot.

I know you meant Denver, but you said Dallas is now 1/2 game behind OKC.

If we are so fortunate to make it to the Finals and DEN is on the other side, our task is simple.  Negate/Contain Jokic.  Again, easier said than done, but doable.  He's one guy holding all the cards.  The remaining 4 for DEN will not beat us.  They are good but not great.  Not for four games.  Jokic is a center version of Larry Bird.  As good as Larry Bird was, he lost twice to the better team Lakers head-to-head.  The series we did win was because we changed the script in G4.  Everyone is jumping the Celtics ship for DEN as DEN now rounds into championship repeat form.    

DEN is the modern day version of the 80's Lakers. For the rest of this decade, the NBA World wants Celtics vs. DEN just like in the 80's we all wanted Lakers vs. Celtics.

db

dbrown4 wrote:If we are so fortunate to make it to the Finals and DEN is on the other side, our task is simple.  Negate/Contain Jokic.  Again, easier said than done, but doable.  He's one guy holding all the cards.  The remaining 4 for DEN will not beat us.  They are good but not great.  Not for four games.  Jokic is a center version of Larry Bird.  As good as Larry Bird was, he lost twice to the better team Lakers head-to-head.  The series we did win was because we changed the script in G4.  Everyone is jumping the Celtics ship for DEN as DEN now rounds into championship repeat form.    

DEN is the modern day version of the 80's Lakers.  For the rest of this decade, the NBA World wants Celtics vs. DEN just like in the 80's we all wanted Lakers vs. Celtics.  

db

db

If the Celtics put all of their focus us on Jokic they will lose.

This Denver team is nothing like the 80's Lakers. I would say that they are more like the 1977 Portland Trail blazers (think Bill Walton) The 80's Lakers was more like the old Celtics that won with a devastating freak break. We would not have lost 2 out of 3 championships to LA in the 80'ds if we were the fast break team.

MAGIC NUMBERS AS OF, POST-GAMES, 3/18/24:

We destroyed Detroit with 2 starters.  All Magic Numbers (MN) go down by 1.

Cleveland won.

Knicks won.


Tonight's games of interest:

Denver @ Minny.  Go Minny!!  OKC scares me slightly less than the reigning Champions with the best player on the planet.  Minny and Denver currently have the same record.  Minny is 1-0 vs Denver H2H, with 3 more games against them to go.  Tonight is in Minny but the last two are in Denver.  The first tiebreaker is H2H, so if Minny goes 1-2 in these final 3 games vs Denver they are assured a tie in that tiebreaker.  After that the tiebreaker for teams in the same Division are Division records.  OKC, Minny and Denver are all in the Northwest Division, so only one will win that tiebreaker.  Minny is currently 11-2 intra-Division while Denver is 6-5.  OKC is 11-4.  If Minny goes 1-2 vs Denver their Division record would be 12-4, neck-and-neck with OKC but Denver would be behind both in that tiebreaker, and that makes me happy.  A quick look at past games and it looks like OKC owns the H2H tiebreaker against Denver and maybe against Minny too.  My first preference is for Minny.  The Joker scares the Hell out of me and any team that can own the H2H matchups against The Joker scares the Hell out of me too.  GO MINNY!!!




MAGIC NUMBERS (COMBINATION OF CELTIC WINS AND OPPONENT'S LOSSES TOTALING THE NUMBER).  14 GAMES LEFT FOR US:

Play-in Berth clinched.
Playoff Berth clinched.
#4 Seed, and a homecourt series, clinched.


CELTICS MAGIC NUMBERS
Overall 1-seed: 9 (OKC)
1-seed: 6 (Milwaukee)
2-seed: 3 (Cleveland)
3-seed: 1 (New York)
4-seed: Clinched (March 18)
Playoffs: Clinched (March 14)
Play-in: Clinched (February 27)


Bob



.

bobh,

DEN@MIN definitely one to record/watch tonight.  DEN is beatable.  Their only two loses after the ASG have been very tight.  Ours were pretty close and both winnable as well.  Looks like the next 3 hurdles on your list should come rather quickly especially if we take out MIL tomorrow.  That's a double whammy on the scorecard.  It also goes the other way if we lose.      

I believe DEN thinks they are a lot better than they actually are.  Beating DEN is a tall order and daunting task, but the Ant Man is going to have to step it up big time tonight with DEN(-7.5).  That's really the only game worth watching on the schedule and it starts at 9pm.

db

P.S. it looks like we can watch that game tonight with the only desire to see DEN lose and get knocked off track...a lot like any Laker game! The outcome looks like it neither benefits or hurts us in the pursuit of HC throughout East or Finals.

MAGIC NUMBERS AS OF, POST-GAMES, 3/19/24:

Orlando won.

Denver beat Minny.  I was hoping they'd win, but Joker had 35 and 16.  Only took 4 3pt fgas, and Gobert couldn't stop him.  Yikes!


Tonight's games of interest:

Bucks @ Celtics, of course.  A win tonight would take our MN vs Bucks down to 4 with 13 left.

Heat @ Cavaliers.  

Jazz @ Thunder.  Nope, not gonna happen.  


MAGIC NUMBERS (COMBINATION OF CELTIC WINS AND OPPONENT'S LOSSES TOTALING THE NUMBER).  14 GAMES LEFT FOR US:

Play-in Berth clinched.
Playoff Berth clinched.
#4 Seed, and a homecourt series, clinched.


CELTICS MAGIC NUMBERS
Overall 1-seed: 9 (OKC)
1-seed: 5 (Milwaukee)
2-seed: 3 (Cleveland)
3-seed: 1 (New York)
4-seed: Clinched (March 18)
Playoffs: Clinched (March 14)
Play-in: Clinched (February 27)


Bob



.

MAGIC NUMBERS AS OF, POST-GAMES, 3/20/24:

We hung on to beat the Bucks.  More than a little embarrassing but a W is a W is a...

Miami beat Cleveland in Cleveland.

OKC beat Utah in OKC, as expected.


Tomorrow's games of interest:

Nets @ Bucks.  If the Nets can pull off an upset and beat Milwaukee on their SEGABABA that would be greatly appreciated.

Knicks @ Nuggets


MAGIC NUMBERS (COMBINATION OF CELTIC WINS AND OPPONENT'S LOSSES TOTALING THE NUMBER).  13 GAMES LEFT FOR US:

Play-in Berth clinched.
Playoff Berth clinched.
#4 Seed, and a homecourt series, clinched.
#3 Seed, clinched.


CELTICS MAGIC NUMBERS
Overall 1-seed: 8 (OKC)
1-seed: 3 (Milwaukee)
2-seed: 1 (Cleveland)
3-seed: Clinched (March 20)
4-seed: Clinched (March 18)
Playoffs: Clinched (March 14)
Play-in: Clinched (February 27)


I sure hope I'm calculating these correctly.  The way I'm doing it I'm saying that we have 6 games in the loss column over OKC with 13 left.  That means that if we went on a 6 game losing streak and they went on a 6 game winning streak we'd be tied with 7 left.  Since we don't own the tiebreaker against them (yet!) we need one more game to win it.  So we'd need a MN of 8 because we can only give up 5 until we play them in the Garden and maybe tie up the H2H tiebreaker.  So NOT a 6 game losing streak, only a 5 game one would work.  


Bob



.

bobheckler wrote:MAGIC NUMBERS AS OF, POST-GAMES, 3/19/24:

Orlando won.

Denver beat Minny.  I was hoping they'd win, but Joker had 35 and 16.  Only took 4 3pt fgas, and Gobert couldn't stop him.  Yikes!


Tonight's games of interest:

Bucks @ Celtics, of course.  A win tonight would take our MN vs Bucks down to 4 with 13 left.

Heat @ Cavaliers.  

Jazz @ Thunder.  Nope, not gonna happen.  


MAGIC NUMBERS (COMBINATION OF CELTIC WINS AND OPPONENT'S LOSSES TOTALING THE NUMBER).  14 GAMES LEFT FOR US:

Play-in Berth clinched.
Playoff Berth clinched.
#4 Seed, and a homecourt series, clinched.


CELTICS MAGIC NUMBERS
Overall 1-seed: 9 (OKC)
1-seed: 5 (Milwaukee)
2-seed: 3 (Cleveland)
3-seed: 1 (New York)
4-seed: Clinched (March 18)
Playoffs: Clinched (March 14)
Play-in: Clinched (February 27)


Bob



.

Gobert couldn't stop Jokic because he didn't play. Hard to stop someone when you're sitting on the bench. In addition to KAT, Naz Reid didn't play either. Denver should've won that one by 20. It's shocking the T-Wolves only lost by 3 with all their bigs out.