POLL: Circled on the Celtics Calendar (Remaining Sched Talk)

[exculpatory]

We could end up w the Heat in R1, the Knicks with Randle & OG back in the ECSF & the Bucks in the ECF.
Gotta earn it.

[Curmudgeon]

This team can win a title unless it beats itself by not rebounding the ball. If they play the right way I do not fear any team in the league, EC or WC.

[zoyathedestroya]

If the Celtics win 17 of their last 22 games, they would have HCA throughout the playoffs, no matter what the other teams do. Cs currently have the easiest remaining schedule, per Tankathon.



Half the remaining teams are sub-.500. Nuggets, OKC, and Bucks (road) are the toughest ones left. Pelicans (road) and maybe Knicks, if they're whole. Not too worried about the Suns.

[exculpatory]

If the Celtics win 17 of their last 22 games, they would have HCA throughout the playoffs, no matter what the other teams do. Cs currently have the easiest remaining schedule, per Tankathon.



Half the remaining teams are sub-.500. Nuggets, OKC, and Bucks (road) are the toughest ones left. Pelicans (road) and maybe Knicks, if they're whole. Not too worried about the Suns.

Since my remaining schedule thread has apparently suddenly been merged with Zoya’s EXCELLENT thread (except your dates are screwed up as usual & will confuse people) containing VERY PRACTICAL MAGIC NUMBERS for HCA in the ECF (currently I think 14 using the currently VERY HOT second place Bucks as the basis for comparison, AND in the NBA Finals (currently 16 using the currently first place Wolves as the basis for comparison), I guess I will respond to Zoya’s posts instead of updating all by myself & incorporate/plagiarize his MAGIC NUMBERS.

UPDATE @ COB ON MON 3/4/2024

REMAINING GAMES = 22


Tues Mar 5 @ CLE (w/o Donovan)
Thurs Mar 7 @ DEN (VERY HOT OF LATE)
Sat Mar 9 @ PHX

Mon Mar 11 @ POR
Tues Mar 12 @ UTA
Thurs Mar 14 H PHX
Sun Mar 17 @ Was

Mon Mar 18 H DET
Wed Mar 20 H MIL (VERY HOT OF LATE)
Fri Mar 22 @ DET
Sat Mar 23 @ CHI

Mon Mar 25 @ ATL
Thurs Mar 28 @ ATL
Sat Mar 30 H NOP (meh)

Mon Apr 1 @ CHA
Wed Apr 3 H OKC
Fr Apr 5 H SAC
Sun Apr 7 H POR

Tues Apr 9 @ MIL (VERY HOT OF LATE)
Thurs Apr 11 H NYK (if whole)
Fri Apr 12 H CHA
Sun Apr 14 H WAS

Mon Apr 15 PAY YOUR TAXES!


*BOLDED & ENLARGED = TOUGHEST WEEK LEFT!
*BOLDED = IMPORTANT & POTENTIALLY TOUGH GAMES!

Current Record 48-12
11 in a row!

EC COMPETITION FOR THE ECF
9 Games Up On the RED HOT Bucks in the L column; MAGIC NUMBER I think 14! Series is 1-1 w 2 remaining games!
9 Games Up On The Cavs In The L column (& we already own the tiebreaker);
13 Games Up On The Knicks in the L column (& we already own the tiebreaker);
13 Games Up On The Sixers in the L column!
(included 4th AND 5th seed this time around because one of those teams will be our opponent in the ECSF)

WC COMPETITION FOR THE NBA FINALS
7 Games Up On The Wolves In The L column; MAGIC NUMBER I think 16! Series is 1-1 w 0 remaining games!
7 Games Up On The RED HOT Nuggets In The Loss Column;
7 Games Up On The Thunder In The Loss Column;
9 Games Up On The Clips In The L Column.

[exculpatory]

UPDATE @ COB ON Sat 3/9/2024

REMAINING GAMES = 19

Mon Mar 11 @ POR
Tues Mar 12 @ UTA
Thurs Mar 14 H PHX
Sun Mar 17 @ Was

Mon Mar 18 H DET
Wed Mar 20 H MIL
Fri Mar 22 @ DET
Sat Mar 23 @ CHI

Mon Mar 25 @ ATL
Thurs Mar 28 @ ATL
Sat Mar 30 H NOP

Mon Apr 1 @ CHA
Wed Apr 3 H OKC
Fr Apr 5 H SAC
Sun Apr 7 H POR

Tues Apr 9 @ MIL
Thurs Apr 11 H NYK (if whole)
Fri Apr 12 H CHA
Sun Apr 14 H WAS

Mon Apr 15 PAY YOUR TAXES!


*BOLDED = POTENTIALLY TOUGH GAMES!

Current Record 49-14

EC COMPETITION FOR THE ECF
8 Games Up On The Cavs In The L column (& we already own the tiebreaker); (MAGIC NUMBER = 11)
9 Games Up On The Bucks in the L column;
12 Games Up On The Knicks in the L column (& we already own the tiebreaker);
13 Games Up On The Magic in the L column!
(included 4th AND 5th seed this time around because one of those teams will be our opponent in the ECSF)

WC COMPETITION FOR THE NBA FINALS
5 Games Up On The Thunder In The L Column; (MAGIC NUMBER I think = 15)
6 Games Up On The Nuggets In The L Column;
6 Games Up On The Wolves In The L column;
7 Games Up On The Clips In The L Column.

[zoyathedestroya]

60 wins and we have HCA in East Playoffs.
64 wins and we have HCA throughout.
69 wins and we somehow cheated.

[Fencer reregistered]

60 wins and we have HCA in East Playoffs.
64 wins and we have HCA throughout.
69 wins and we somehow cheated.

Thunder, to catch us, need to beat us head-to-head and make up 4 games in the other 18 games that remain. Everybody else has a harder path than that.

[exculpatory]

60 wins and we have HCA in East Playoffs.
64 wins and we have HCA throughout.
69 wins and we somehow cheated.

That is the same as the Magic Numbers of 11 & 15 I just posted.

[zoyathedestroya]

Read on Twitter

[zoyathedestroya]

Magic number for #1 seed in East: 10
Magic number for #1 seed in league: 14

[ConstableGeneva]

With 18 games left, worst we can do is 12-6 imo. 14-4 is doable. Toughest games: v. PHX, v. MIL, @NOP, v. OKC, @MIL, v. NYK.

[zoyathedestroya]

Teams the Celtics have beaten at least once:
• every Central Division team
• every Atlantic Division team
• every Southeast Division team except Hornets
• every Southwest Division team except Pelicans
• Lakers, Clippers, Kings
• Wolves, Jazz

Teams the Cs have yet to beat:
• Nuggets
• Thunder
• Blazers (2 gms left)
• Pelicans (2 gms left)
• Hornets (2 gms left)
• Suns (2 gms left)
• Warriors

Updating:

Teams Cs have beaten at least once:
• every Central Division team
• every Atlantic Division team
• every Southeast Division team except Hornets
• every Southwest Division team
• every Pacific Division team
• Wolves, Jazz, Blazers

Yet to Beat: Hornets, OKC, Nuggets (see you in the Finals!)

[ConstableGeneva]

As of this posting, the Celtics with BY FAR the easiest remaining schedule in the NBA. The gap between the easiest (BOS) and 2nd easiest (CHI) remaining schedule is the same as the gap between the second easiest and 20th easiest schedule (CLE) in the league.

Celtics will only leave their time zone 3x out of the remaining 17 games -- @CHI, @NOP, @MIL. Three B2Bs left. None of the 2nd nights pose much of a challenge.

Magic number in East is 8. Magic number for top seed in NBA is 12. Celtics control their destiny now.

[ConstableGeneva]

11-5 is so doable if we don't lose our freaking minds.

Read on Twitter

[ConstableGeneva]

If Nuggets or Thunder run the table, Celtics need to go 11-5. DEN have the following games left: @DAL, @LAC, @MIN, MIN (2x), PHX, CLE, NYK. OKC have: @MIL, MIL, @BOS, @NOP, @NYK, PHX, DAL.

[exculpatory]

UPDATE @ COB ON FRI 3/15/2024

REMAINING GAMES = 16

Sun Mar 17 @ Was

Mon Mar 18 H DET
Wed Mar 20 H MIL
Fri Mar 22 @ DET
Sat Mar 23 @ CHI

Mon Mar 25 @ ATL
Thurs Mar 28 @ ATL
Sat Mar 30 H NOP

Mon Apr 1 @ CHA
Wed Apr 3 H OKC
Fr Apr 5 H SAC
Sun Apr 7 H POR

Tues Apr 9 @ MIL
Thurs Apr 11 H NYK (if whole)
Fri Apr 12 H CHA
Sun Apr 14 H WAS

[/size]Mon Apr 15 PAY YOUR TAXES!


*BOLDED = 6 POTENTIALLY TOUGH GAMES!
Bucks twice, Knicks, Pelicans, Thunder, Kings = 6 of remaining 16 games
(also a bunch of crap - Hawks twice, Wizards twice, Hornets twice, Pistons twice, Blazers, Bulls = 10 of remaining 16 games)!


Current Record 52-14

EC COMPETITION FOR THE ECF

10 Games Up On The Bucks in the L column; (MAGIC NUMBER = 7)
10 Games Up On The Cavs In The L column (& we already own the tiebreaker); (MAGIC NUMBER = 6)
13 Games Up On The Knicks in the L column (& we already own the tiebreaker);
14 Games Up On The Magic in the L column!
(included 4th AND 5th seed this time around because one of those teams will be our opponent in the ECSF)

WC COMPETITION FOR THE NBA FINALS
6 Games Up On The Nuggets In The L Column; (MAGIC NUMBER = 11)
6 Games Up On The Thunder In The L Column;
7 Games Up On The Wolves In The L column;
10 Games Up On The Clips In The L Column.

[ConstableGeneva]

Still the easiest remaining schedule left:



Main competition: Nuggets (8) have 9th easiest, Wolves (8) have 12th hardest, OKC (9) have 7th hardest, and Bucks (5) have 4th hardest. (Magic number in parenthesis.)

Celtics just need to win NINE from this (and not worry about what the other teams do):

[ConstableGeneva]

Magic number in East is down to 3*.
Magic number throughout POs is 8.

*It's closer to 2 since we're at least assured of a tie in H2H and have a sizeable lead in conference win %.

[exculpatory]

Still the easiest remaining schedule left:



Main competition: Nuggets (8) have 9th easiest, Wolves (8) have 12th hardest, OKC (9) have 7th hardest, and Bucks (5) have 4th hardest. (Magic number in parenthesis.)

Celtics just need to win NINE from this (and not worry about what the other teams do):

Great display of essentials.
Pithy & right on.

[exculpatory]

56-14

Magic Number down to 1 more likely than 2 for HCA in the ECF.
Magic Number down to 7 for HCA in the NBA Finals.

Of our remaining 12 games:

Sat Mar 23 @ CHI

Mon Mar 25 @ ATL
Thurs Mar 28 @ ATL
Sat Mar 30 @ NOP

Mon Apr 1 @ CHA
Wed Apr 3 H OKC
Fr Apr 5 H SAC
Sun Apr 7 H POR

Tues Apr 9 @ MIL
Thurs Apr 11 H NYK (if whole)
Fri Apr 12 H CHA
Sun Apr 14 H WAS

5 potentially competitive - Pelicans A, Thunder H, Kings H, Bucks A, Knicks H
7 should not be competitive- Bulls A, Hawks twice A, Hornets twice H & A, Blazers H, Wizards H

BTW -
Starting to look like first round will be Sixers (perhaps w Biid), Heat or Pacers & ECSF will be Magic or Knicks (w Randolph & OG). This will NOT be a walk in the park. And we have been quite mediocre VS the top teams in the NBA.