The Celtics are now primed to enter the playoffs with a full and healthy roster for the first time this season.
The No. 2 seed for the Eastern Conference playoffs has been clinched, but the Celtics’ first-round opponent will remain unclear for several days.
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Boston will face the winner of Tuesday’s play-in tournament game involving the teams that finish seventh and eighth in the standings. The 76ers will most likely play the Magic in that game, but the sixth-place Raptors could still drop.
Toronto will clinch the No. 6 seed if it defeats the Nets on Sunday, or the Magic lose to the Celtics and the 76ers fall to the Bucks. That scenario is extremely unlikely, however, considering Brooklyn is just 20-61 and the Bucks are 32-49.
The Celtics, meanwhile, will rest most of their top players Sunday. Jaylen Brown, Jayson Tatum, Derrick White, and Neemias Queta have been ruled out, and Payton Pritchard, Nikola Vucevic, and Sam Hauser are doubtful.
The Celtics went 2-2 against the 76ers and 2-1 against the Magic this season. But Philadelphia’s star center, Joel Embiid, is expected to be sidelined for several weeks after undergoing an appendectomy Thursday. The Magic, meanwhile, have won five games in a row and are finally healthy after battling injuries for much of the season.
The Celtics have outscored opponents by 13.2 points per 100 possessions with center Queta on the floor this season, compared to just 3.8 points per 100 possessions when he is on the bench. The big man is averaging career highs of 10.2 points, 8.4 rebounds and 1.3 blocks per game, and coach Joe Mazzulla, for one, believes he should be named the NBA’s Most Improved Player.
“I hope he gets it,” Mazzulla said. “He deserves it. To me, again, obviously as a player, but more what it means to do it for the Celtics, I think, goes a long way. And where he’s been on his journey in the NBA, but also his journey with us in our organization, he should seriously be considered for that because of where he was, and where he is now, and we wouldn’t be in that position without him.”
Queta said winning the honor has been his goal since the start of the season, when he had a conversation about it with his agent.
“I think about it all the time,” he said. “I feel like I made a good case for it, but like we said, that’s stuff that we can’t control. At the end of the day, I’m just helping the team win. And that’s my main goal. Obviously, that’s secondary, the most improved, but I’m just glad I’m helping my teammates getting to the spot we’re at right now. And whether I win it or don’t win it, it’s not going to change my perspective and the approach I take every night.”
Adam Himmelsbach can be reached at [email protected]. Follow him @adamhimmelsbach.
