For two weeks, folks (including me) have said every game is important for the C's because of seeding and consequent home court advantage. Statistically teams with home court advantage in the playoffs have a huge advantage. While this is still true (stats below), there is another, more important reason why every game matters. Simply put, the Celtics are not playing at a championship level, and they have 10 games remaining to prove that they can.
First, the stats on home court advantage in the playoffs. Since 2009, teams with home court have won series at an amazing .767 clip! (info from:
http://www.nba.com/2009/news/features/john_schuhmann/04/17/homecourt20090417/
Series W L Pct.
First round 65 15 .813
Conf. semis 32 8 .800
Conf. finals 10 10 .500
The Finals 8 2 .800
Total 115 35 .767
My second point and more important point, is that the Celtics have not been playing like champions. Until and unless they can demonstrate to themselves and everyone else that they can play together for 48 minutes as a dominant, championship caliber team, the Celtics will not believe it themselves, in their hearts, where it matters.
The Celtics don't need to win every remaining game and win the first seed. They can defy the odds once again, and make it to the finals. But, and this is a big but, the Celtics must play like a champion now or they will never be a champion in June.
Banner 18
Now on Twitter as Celticsbanner