The Race for the 2nd Seed (AKA Tracking the Celtics' Losses)

[bicatmit]

Here we are, down to our final 4 games of the season and we're currently 1 game behind the Boston Celtics for 2nd seed in the East, which would give homecourt advantage to whichever team is in that spot when the 2nd round of the playoffs begins. This is how the last week of the season sets up for these two Eastern Conference thoroughbreds:

-Boston and Orlando each have 4 games remaining.

-The 4 games for each team are all against Eastern Conference opponents.

-The Magic have 2 games at home, 2 away. The Celtics also have 2 games at home, 2 away.

-The Magic's games are all against sub-0.500 teams who are lottery-bound. 3 out of the 4 Celtics games are against playoff teams, including Miami, @Cleveland, and @Philadelphia.

-Both teams have 1 more back-to-back left. The Magic have New York/@New Jersey and the Celtics have @Philadelphia/Washington.

-The Celtics are currently 1 game ahead of the Magic in the standings and are currently 2 games ahead in the tie-breaker, which gives the nod to the team that posts the better record against Eastern Conference teams. Right now the Celtics are 38-10 while the Magic are 36-12. If the two teams finish with the same regular-season record, the Magic cannot win this tie-breaker, they can only lose it. This is so because should the two teams tie their regular-season records, Boston would still be 1 game ahead of Orlando in the conference record, which would have them win the tie-breaker. This essentially means that the Magic are *2* games behind the Celtics in the standings, and for the Magic to finish as the 2nd seed, they will need Boston to lose at least 2 of their remaining 4 games.

During any other part of the season, making up 2 games on the Celtics in 1 week would sound nearly impossible, but the schedule-makers have been very good to Orlando this time around. It's very possible that the Magic win out the rest of their games since losing even just 1 to one of these lottery-bound teams would be a terrible disappointment. However, the Celtics are still playing without Kevin Garnett, they have to play @Cleveland, where the Cavs are 38-1, they play a Miami team that took them to OT without Dwayne Wade the last time they met, on the road against a Philly team fighting for playoff positioning, and wrap up the season at home against a Wizards team that beat Cleveland last week with the help of a Mr. Gilbert Arenas.


CLIFF NOTES:
The Magic's last 4 games:
New York
@New Jersey
@Milwaukee
Charlotte

The Celtics' last 4 games:
Miami
@Cleveland
@Philadelphia
Washington

Boston needs to lose at least 2 games for the Magic to have a shot at the 2nd seed. If the Celtics finish the season 2-2, the Magic will need to go 4-0.

[Magicalltheway]

I just hope Miami does not try to rest Wade and only give him 25mins or so. Neither is playing for much and may just rest the key players. I doubt the celts will go 500 the next 4 games. so I will cherish the 3rd in the east and look forward to abusing the 6th seed team.

[AdamTheGreek]

Won't happen, and I frankly don't really care. Just want 61 wins.

[Idunkonyou2]

Celtics could very well lose 3 of those games. Magic SHOULD win out, but who knows.

[LBPTarHeel27]

Who knows...I like our schedule better than theirs and we just need them to slip up.

Miami will be tough, Cleveland on the road is likely a loss, and I could definitely see Boston losing both games of that back to back. Philly in the playoffs needing a win for seeding - Washington "healthy" for the first time all season, looking to prove something.

It isn't likely, but it could happen. I say they finish 1-3.

[LBPTarHeel27]

My Best case scenario...

We finish 4-0, beating NY, NJ, Milwaukee, Charlotte.

Boston goes 1-3, losing to Miami, Cleveland, & Washington. Beating Philly.

Philly finishes 1-4, losing to Cleveland twice, Boston, & Chicago. Beating Toronto.

Chicago finishes 4-0, beating Philly, Detroit, Charlotte & Toronto
OR
Detroit goes 3-1, beating NJ, Indiana, Chicago. Losing to Miami.


1. Cleveland
2. Orlando
3. Boston
4. Atalnta
5. Miami
6. Chicago/Detroit
7. Philly
8. Chicago/Detroit

I wanna see Philly in the 1st round. They have "better" bigs than Chicago and I would like to get a real warmup rather than just cruise over Chicago like he always does. Thaddy is also out, making things easier on Hedo & Shard's legs, where playing Chicago might be tougher on them.

[the matador]

The Magic's last 4 games:
New York
@New Jersey
@Milwaukee
Charlotte

The Celtics' last 4 games:
Miami
@Cleveland
@Philadelphia
Washington

I see Boston going 2-2 and the Magic going 3-1 even though we should win out. I think we could lose to Charlotte because there is a slim chance they will have something to play for at the end of the year and we should be resting our starts a little bit. I see the Celtic losing to Cleveland and either Miami or Washington (finally healthy) maybe both. Unfortunately not getting home court against the Celtics if we face them in the second round (knock on wood). But how sweet would it be to go into Boston like the road warriors we are and taking at least one of their home games and winning the series. Especially after Doc Rivers implied they don't need home court in the playoffs. Any ways im just really getting excited for the playoffs this year should be a lot of fun

[MagicMadness]

We totally have a shot. We go up against four mediocre teams, while Boston goes up against 3 straight playoff teams.

Definitely a chance, but the Magic have to worry about winning their games and just hoping the pieces fall in place.

[christian72589]

i thought all we had to do was win a game while they lose a game and we swap positioning...?... meaning a BOS loss to cleveland and us going 4-0 would give us the 2 seed.

[bicatmit]

i thought all we had to do was win a game while they lose a game and we swap positioning...?... meaning a BOS loss to cleveland and us going 4-0 would give us the 2 seed.

Try reading the first post.

[bicatmit]

So as the Magic play host to the Knicks tonight, so will the Celtics to the Heat. Let's go Miami!

[Bensational]

thankfully it's close between Miami and Philli, so hopefully they'll be bringing all their weapons to the games. Cleveland will probably rest against the C's. Washington may want to prove something on that last game.

frankly i just don't see us getting 2nd seed. and what i'm hoping for even more is that Detroit work their way to 7th seed and give Boston a hard 1st rd.

[bicatmit]

The Heat had a legit shot at beating the Celtics on their home court, with the game being tied with 1:30 left in the 4th quarter but they blew their opportunity and Boston gets the win.

Even if Orlando goes on to win tonight, the Celtics will need to go 1-3 and the Magic 3-0 for us to grab the 2nd seed.

[Bensational]

C's win, Magic lose. 2nd seed hopes are gone.

onwards to Phili/Miami matchup in the 1st Rd!

LID