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15 hours ago

Rondo Replacing Johnson on All-Star Team

The Herald got it right from Rondo’s agent. According to his agent, Bill Duffy, the Celtics point guard has been named to the Eastern Conference All-star roster, presumably to replace Joe Johnson, the injured Atlanta Hawks guard. This would be Rondo’s third all-star appearance. Nice birthday present for RR, who probably should have been selected [...]

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3 days ago

Comments Deleting?

We apologize if your comments are being deleted (provided that they are not offensive). We are looking into why this is happening. We also want to apologize for the lack of a game thread for last night’s game.  We had a premonition that the Celtics would play that poorly and thought if we pretended the [...]

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7 days ago

5 Questions With Greg Monroe

I talked with Detroit star forward Greg Monroe prior to the Celtics-Pistons game on Wednesday night.  Here is what the 2nd year big man out of Georgetown, who is averaging 16.4 points, 9.7 rebounds, 2.5 assists per game had to say. 1. Just your 2nd year in the league, but playing so well, were you disappointed [...]

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8 days ago

Call for Responses: 5-on-5

Readers! Last week’s responses to the 5-on-5 questions were really, really great. We had way more qualified answers than we were able to use. So we’re going to keep doing it! FOREVER. Here are this week’s questions: 1. Are you concerned about Rondo’s media boycott this week? 2. The trade deadline is less than a [...]

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11 days ago

5 Questions With Ronnie Brewer

I talked with Chicago starting guard Ronnie Brewer prior to the Celtics-Bulls game on Sunday.  Here is what the 6th year man out of Arkansas who is averaging 7.6 points, 3.1 rebounds, and 2.1 assists had to say. 1. You guys have a lot of the same players back from last year’s team which was [...]

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13 days ago

5 Questions With Josh McRoberts

I talked to Los Angeles back up big man Josh McRoberts prior to the Celtics-Lakers game Thursday night at the Garden.  Here is what the former Duke Blue Devil, who is averaging 2.9 points and 3.8 rebounds in his first year in LA, had to say. 1. How have you guys been able to deal [...]

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It Won’t Be Detroit; Hello Philly?

Chicago just got a big road win over Detroit, meaning these are your up-to-the-second Eastern Conference bottom three:

Bulls 41-40 (remaining game: home vs. Toronto)

Sixers 40-40 (remaining games: home vs. Boston; @ Cleveland)

Detroit 39-42 (doesn’t matter)

Detroit is now locked in as Cleveland’s opponent and the eighth seed, since Philly wins the tie-breaker over the Pistons based on a taking the season series, 2-1. 

Let’s assume Chicago beats Toronto, to move to 42-40 overall. That means Philly (obviously) would have to win out in order to have the tie-breakers (explained below) kick in. But let’s put this simply for now: If Chicago beats the Raptors, the Celtics can ensure they play Philly in the first round by beating Philly on Tuesday. So if you want the Sixers and not the Bulls, cheer extra hard for Boston tomorrow.

If Philly and Chicago do finish tied, the next tie-breaker is record against Eastern Conference opponents. Right now, that looks like this:

Chicago: 24-27

Philadelphia: 24-26

So in the unlikely event the Bulls lose to Toronto (dropping them to 24-28 against the East), they could be in trouble, since a Philly split against Boston and Cleveland would give them an edge in this tie-breaker (at 25-27 versus the East) and thus the sixth seed. If both teams finish at 42-40, Philly will get the sixth seed based on a superior conference record. 

We don’t have to go any further in tie-breakers, since, by definition, if both teams finish 41-41, Philly gets the sixth seed because they’ll have a superior conference record.

To recap, here are the scenarios:

1) Bulls beat Toronto, Philly goes 2-0 = Philly finishes 6th, Chicago 7th

2) Bulls beat Toronto, Philly goes 1-1 or 0-2 = Chicago finishes 6th, Sixers 7th

3) Toronto beats Bulls, Philly goes 2-0 = Philly finishes 6th, Bulls 7th

4) Toronto beats Bulls, Philly goes 1-1 = Philly finishes 6th, Bulls 7th

5) Toronto beats Bulls, Philly goes 0-2 = Chicago finishes 6th, Sixers 7th

(PS: It’s late and I’m tired. If someone thinks I’ve screwed this up, please let me know in the comments).

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