From Nov. 14 to Feb. 26, the Celtics held the top seed in the Eastern Conference for all but just five days. But after their loss to the Knicks on Feb. 27, and coupled with the Bucks’ 16-game winning streak, lost its grip on the No. 1 spot and a slide that included four losses in five games put them even further behind.
The Celtics suddenly found themselves three games behind the Bucks on March 14 and even briefly slid to third behind the 76ers.
According to Malcolm Brogdon, it was a wake-up call.
Some Celtics have dismissed the importance of getting the No. 1 seed. But they look focused entering the final stretch. Boston earned an impressive win at Sacramento to finish its road trip last week and carried that momentum back home, where they strung together dominant victories over the Pacers and Spurs.
Brogdon thinks they’re carrying some extra motivation after losing hold of the No. 1 seed – and it’s their goal to get it back.
“I think we’re getting more and more locked in,” Brogdon said. “I think it’s apparent when Milwaukee took the No. 1 seed from us after the break, it was sort of a shock to us that we had dropped because we had created some separation between us and them. That’s something we want, we want the No. 1 seed. I think this team understands the importance of having homecourt advantage in the playoffs so that’s something we are going after.
The Celtics (52-23) woke up on Monday 1.5 games back of the Bucks (53-21) with seven games to play, while Milwaukee has eight. After splitting the first two games of the season series, the Celtics and Bucks will play Thursday night in Milwaukee for their third and final meeting of the regular season. The winner will hold the tiebreaker if it’s needed.
Jaylen Brown thinks the Celtics have refocused a bit after going through periods in the season when they weren’t playing their best even in victories.
“Obviously seeding is important, but how you’re playing is more important,” Brown said. “I was more focused on how we were playing than what our seed was. I thought that, even though we were the best team in the league for a large majority of the season in the stretches of the season when we were winning games because we were better than teams, but we weren’t playing the way we were capable of. We kind of got comfortable at different moments and would pull games out. Even if we won, everybody would be happy but, in reality, it shouldn’t have even been close. So now, with us, in a little bit of a hunt again, everybody kind of refocuses and plays the way we need to play.”
Getting the No. 1 seed would certainly ease the Celtics’ path to the NBA Finals. Not only would they earn home court advantage through the East playoffs, they would avoid having to go through both the 76ers and Bucks.
The Celtics had the No. 2 seed last year and made the Finals. If they can’t regain the No. 1 seed, they’re not making excuses.
“If we don’t get it – regardless, you have to play basketball,” Brogdon said. “Regardless, you are going to get people’s best games and regardless, you are going to have to go through teams like Milwaukee. We’re going to be prepared regardless.”