Don’t pencil in the Sixers as a 1st round opponent just yet…

Posted by Brian Robb on Apr 15, 2009 14032 commentshttp%3A%2F%2Fcelticshub.com%2F2009%2F04%2F15%2Fdont-pencil-in-the-sixers-as-a-1st-round-opponent-just-yet%2FDon%27t+pencil+in+the+Sixers+as+a+1st+round+opponent+just+yet...+2009-04-15+19%3A07%3A41Brian+Robbhttp%3A%2F%2Fcelticshub.com%2F%3Fp%3D1403

Well the chances of the Celtics playing the Bulls in the 1st round, just got a little bit higher thanks to our friends in Cleveland who like to make life difficult for the Celtics without even playing them. The word from Cleveland is that Mike Brown will be resting Lebron, along with Mo Williams, Ben Wallace, Joe Smith and Big Z. This leaves the Cavs with a skeleton crew of Delonte West, Anderson Varejao and Daniel Gibson to lead the way tonight against Philly. (h/t Celticsblog)

A couple thoughts on this situation. First, for those who thought that the Celts didn’t care against Cleveland matching the C’s 40-1 home record on Sunday, it’s clear that Mike Brown doesn’t give much priority to the record either. He’s likely making the smart move, keeping his eye towards earning a Championship, rather than getting this team placed in the record books.

That being said, I still do not think the chances of us facing Chicago increase substantially after this move for a couple reasons.

1) There’s only a slim chance that Chicago loses at home to Toronto tonight. Of course Toronto has been playing better of late (6-4 in last 10), but Chicago has won 5 in a row, are 28-12 at home, making it apparent that they’re playing their best basketball of the season right now. I can’t see the Bulls letting the Raptors undo a month’s worth of hard work to get up to the 6th spot by allowing them to steal a win in the United Center tonight. Ben Gordon and Derrick Rose won’t let that happen.

2) The Cavs could still very well beat the Sixers tonight even with their limited roster.
I mean if the C’s beat Sixers last night in Philly with two of the big three out, I see no reason why the Cavs couldn’t do it at home tonight. They still will have some guys who can score in bunches if they get hot in Delonte, Wally and Boobie Gibson. The bench players will be motivated since they don’t want to be the ones responsible from keeping the team from matching the homecourt record. Plus the Sixers have been playing terribly lately, as we saw last night, so this one will not be a walkover for them by any means.

So count me among those who still think the odds are pretty heavily in our favor to see this Philadelphia team in round 1. The victory last night seems just that much sweeter now as seeing this squad take care of business then, ensured they would only have to count on one team to help them tonight (Chicago or Cleveland) and not both to make a first round matchup with the Sixers a reality.