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5 days ago

Painful Reminders (Part I): The Celtics Drafted JaJuan Johnson Instead of Jimmy Butler

On June 23rd, 2011, Brian Robb and I stood around a high top bar table in Tommy Doyle’s in Kendall Square.  Before us lay one of the biggest mounds of buffalo chicken wings I had ever endeavor to make disappear.  These 25 cent flappers- one of the few indulgences afforded to the participants of our [...]

15
5 days ago

Chris Wilcox: 2012-13 Final Grade

There are a number of contextually-appropriate ways to craft this post. One would be to forgo words entirely, and represent Chris Wilcox’s entire season with a series of videos. That would involve one part of this: For every eight parts of this: Note the headline on that second clip. Someone was so amused/enraged by Wilcox’s [...]

12
6 days ago

Rajon Rondo’s 2012-13 Final Grade

Here’s a sweeping general statement involving super specific statistics that may or may not mean anything: In the 1423 minutes Rajon Rondo played this season, the Boston Celtics were outscored by 1.3 points per 100 possessions. When he sat (including all contests after he tore his ACL), Boston was better than their opponents by 1.8 [...]

92
7 days ago

Avery Bradley Elected to NBA All-Defense Second Team

Avery Bradley has been a standout defender for the past couple seasons…in the regular season anyway. Now he has a trophy to prove it. The NBA announced this afternoon that the third-year guard has been elected by coaches around the league to the second-team all-NBA defensive team for the first time in his career. Bradley [...]

13
10 days ago

Paul Pierce’s Contract: Dispelling The Myths and Stating The Facts

The first domino to fall this offseason is Paul Pierce’s contract. Until Danny Ainge figures out what he’s doing there, little else matters. As we wait for this decision, we also must face the rest of the offseason, which means it is also rumor season. With that time of year, comes plenty of information floating [...]

42
10 days ago

Final Grade: Avery Bradley (C+)

In his third year in the league, in which promising players often make brash leaps from benchwarmer to starter, from starter to star, Avery Bradley took a big step back. But his regression might be deceptive. When he returned to the Celtics’ lineup on January the 2nd after two in-season months recovering from offseason shoulder [...]

9
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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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