Celtics Clinch Four-Seed In East, Will Face Pacers In First Round
BOSTON (CBS) -- The Boston Celtics may not have won Sunday night, but they didn't need a victory to clinch home-court advantage in the first-round of the upcoming playoffs.
That's because the Celtics received an assist from the Brooklyn Nets, who beat the Indiana Pacers earlier Sunday evening. Paired with their loss to the Orlando Magic, and the Celtics will be the Eastern Conference's four-seed when the NBA Playoffs get underway this weekend.
The C's will square off against the Pacers in the first round, a team they went 3-1 against during the regular season. The Celtics blew out the Pacers on Friday night, 117-97, in Indiana with an all-around team effort. Jayson Tatum led the way with 22 points, Kyrie Irving had 17 points and six assists, and Gordon Hayward chipped in with 21 points off the bench.
The Pacers and Celtics have been on a collision course for a first-round matchup for much of the last month, so the Celtics know what they'll be going up against when the postseason tips off.
"It's going to be an extremely tough series," head coach Brad Stevens said Sunday. "It's going to be an extremely physical series. I did not think they played their best without [point guard Darren] Collison the other night. We expect a lot of games like that game two weeks ago here, 10 days ago here."
The Pacers' final visit to Boston of the regular season was decided by just two points, a 114-112 Celtics victory on March 29. Boston nearly let that game slip away until Irving, who finished the game with 30 points, lifted the Celtics to victory with a driving layup with 0.5 seconds left in regulation.
The Pacers were a surprising team early in the season but have returned to earth since losing star Victor Oladipo in late January. They're still a scrappy defensive team that never quits and is relentless on the glass, so the Celtics know it's still going to be a battle in the first round.
"Just play our game, be physical, use our IQ on both ends of the floor, and just play together," Irving said of the keys to winning the series. "Obviously, there are going to be some runs out there in the playoffs and high-level basketball. Guys are going to be making some incredible shots and we just want to limit them to their tendencies and just play well. Every shot is not going to go in, but we just got to be able to be resilient and just have some fun out there. Don't let the pressure of the moment get the best of you and just go out there and hoop."
Irving and the Celtics never lived up to the hype that surrounded them during the regular season, but the playoffs give them an opportunity to live up to those expectations.
"Just be great," Irving said of his playoff mentality. "It's easy to do that when you put in the work and do what you're supposed to do. Take care of your body, just go out there and play. I'm just happy that we get to prepare for a team for multiple days. It makes it a lot better to go out there and just make plays within the game. There's nothing that's really surprising out there in the playoffs, so just get a good feel of the Pacers. Game 1 is a feel-out game and then we go from there."
The Celtics close out their regular season Tuesday night with a road game against the Washington Wizards. They'll host Game 1 against the Pacers either Saturday or Sunday.
