The Celtics have earned the number two seed in the Eastern Conference. That said, they’ll be awaiting the winner of the Miami Heat and the Atlanta Hawks. The Celtics are no strangers to how the play-in tournament works. Last season, they awaited the Brooklyn Nets as they inevitably beat the Cleveland Cavaliers. The year before that, Jayson Tatum dropped 50 points in the play-in against the Washington Wizards to get the Celtics into the playoffs.
As the Celtics await their opponent, let’s look at the two teams they could see in round one.
Miami Heat
The Heat and Celtics know each other all too well. After clashes in two of the last three eastern conference finals, the teams have revived that rivalry from the early 2010s. However, this Heat team is not the same squad they were a year ago. The Heat have won nine fewer games than last season and their offensive rating sits at 25th in the NBA. However, they do have two good things going for them. One is they sit 9th in the NBA in defensive rating so, that stifling defense hasn’t gone anywhere. The second is Jimmy Butler, one of the league’s premiere playoff performers. In 19 career playoff games against Boston, Butler averages 22.6 points, 6.8 rebounds, and 4.2 assists.
While Butler is someone to gameplan for, there is not enough around the Heat to give Boston a real struggle. They don’t have the star power or depth to keep up with Boston for 48 minutes in a seven-game series. If these two teams meet, the prediction is Celtics in 5. Butler is an All-NBA level player and will find a way to avoid the sweep, but doing that four times with his current roster would be unheard of.
Atlanta Hawks
The Hawks have had a disappointing year to their standards once again. This is their second straight season in the play-in despite giving up a plethora of draft picks to the Spurs for Dejounte Murray. There has been some good in this season though. They are seventh in the league in offensive rating and are not dead last in defensive rating. They still rank 22nd but that is better than their 26th rank last season. While these are good things in a mediocre season, this team can’t be seen as a real threat regardless if they win one of the two play-in games. They have been consistently inconsistent and lack serious depth for a playoff run.
Trae Young is one of the best shows in basketball. The star guard averages 25.6 points and 7.5 assists against the Celtics in his career and leads the league in total assists. Despite this, he isn’t the playoff riser that Butler is. If the Hawks won the play-in matchup, the prediction is Celtics in four.
Who Wins The Play-In Matchup?
While earlier it was said this is not the same Miami Heat team as last season, the physicality and defense haven’t gone anywhere. Young struggled immensely against the Heat in the playoffs last season. While both teams don’t have strong bench units, Butler is willing to go north of 42 minutes if need be in a must-win. Considering the Hawks’ strength of running through Young is what the Heat know how to stop best, the Miami Heat would be the winner and move on to play Boston in the first round.
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