The Boston Celtics have almost as many regular season games remaining on their schedule as they do healthy players on their roster.
Prior to a Mar.14 tilt against the Washington Wizards, Boston came into the contest with their most extensive injury report of the season. Four of the team’s five regular starters were listed, only one of which had a chance to actually play in the Wizards game. Meanwhile,Daniel Theis and Marcus Smart are both unlikely to have their names off the injury report anytime soon, with the former already confirmed to be out for the season and the latter likely on his way to follow suit.
#NEBHInjuryReport for tonight's game vs. Washington:
Brown (concussion) – OUT
Hayward (left ankle rehab) – OUT
Horford (illness) – OUT
Irving (left knee soreness) – OUT
Smart (right thumb sprain) – OUT
Tatum (low back tightness) – PROBABLE
Theis (left knee meniscal tear) – OUT— Boston Celtics (@celtics) March 14, 2018
The Celtics’ reserves put up an impressive fight against a Wizards squad that had every player but John Wall available. Boston lead by as many as 20 points, though ultimately fell to Washington in a double-overtime battle by a score of 125-124. It was a game which the Wizards undoubtedly should have won, where the Celtics were not supposed to come as close to stealing a victory as they did.
Win or lose though, for the Celtics this one really didn’t matter much. It was great to see the team’s bench rise to the occasion and almost come away with a win, but Boston should begin thinking about the bigger picture right now. The reason for their courtship of Gordon Hayward and blockbuster trade for Kyrie Irving, the NBA Playoffs, is almost here.
After the game against the Wizards, Boston has 14 regular season games remaining on their schedule. They also have 11 healthy players. It might seem like this would be a reason to panic, but it’s not.
The Celtics have 11 healthy players:
Allen, Bird, Baynes, Monroe, Morris, Nader, Ojeleye, Rozier, Tatum & Yabusele
6 of them are rookies. And another joined the team a month ago.
— Keith Smith (@KeithSmithNBA) March 12, 2018
Right now the Celtics sit comfortably ahead of the third place Indiana Pacers in the Eastern Conference standings. With the Toronto Raptors having won nine of their last ten games and emerging as the heavy favorites to take the number one seed, it doesn’t look like Boston will have the opportunity to catch up with all of their team’s injuries. However, it might not be the worst thing if they don’t.
If the playoffs began today, the Celtics would first face the seventh seeded Milwaukee Bucks and then either the Pacers or the sixth place Philadelphia 76ers in the following round. Not to discredit Indiana, a team that has played some great basketball this season, but the fourth seeded Cleveland Cavaliers are far more dangerous to the Celtics. As things stand right now, Boston wouldn’t play either Cleveland or Toronto until the Eastern Conference Finals.
Things can change a lot over the course of the last 14 games of the season, but the odds of the Celtics slipping any lower than the second spot in the East are slim. They hold a six game lead over the Pacers with is unlikely to slip away from them, but the 4.5 games between Boston and the first place Raptors may be too much to overcome.
Despite the rash of injuries they have suffered recently, the Celtics should feel fine about where they are at this stage of the season. Boston’s may priority ahead of the postseason should be to make sure their key players are at full strength for a deep playoff run.
