We've got a few days off to ponder the bigger picture, so I did some pondering this morning. We've got 9 days left in the regular season and the team will play 5 more games. I'm here to tell you that none of those games matter.
I'm sure we'll find things to talk about. We can observe how the new players are getting acclimated to the team. We can continue the daily KG watch. We can watch the scoreboards to see who we'll be beating in the first round. But the results of the games just won't mean that much in the grand scheme.
With my pulse on the veins of Celtic Nation, I feel like I can speak for the majority of fans when I say that we hold the following truths to be self evident:
- We will beat any of the bottom 4 seeds in the first round, with or without KG.
- With a healthy KG, we can beat Orlando without home court advantage.
- If we don't have KG back by the Easter Conference Finals (ECF), we won't be repeating (barring a miracle).
By my reasoning, the biggest question mark ahead of us if what chances we have against the Magic in the 2nd round if we don't have home court and we don't have KG. Seems like it might be a tight series. It also would very likely be an exercise in futility.
If KG can't come back by the 2nd round, how effective would he be in the ECF? If he's not at full speed by that time, what chance would we have in the Finals if (by some miracle) we got past LeBron and the Cavs? Therefore, I submit that winning homecourt advantage in the 2nd round is a somewhat moot point, given our current situation.
Now I don't have any new information on KG, so please don't read too much into this. I have every hope that he'll be back for the playoffs and I'm reasonbly confident that he'll be able to give us near his max production for most of the playoffs. But you just never know with things like this.
The results of the next 5 games will not change anything in my mind. But that doens't mean they aren't worth watching.
We'll play the Heat and Sixers in that time frame. Either could be our first round opponent and a little last minute scouting can't hurt. We'll play the Cavs in Cleveland and it would be nice to knock them off thier home court perch to prevent them from tying the 86 Celtics with a 40-1 record at home.
Not to mention the fact that we want these guys rolling once they reach the post season. We can't afford to coast into the playoffs and expect to get up to speed and readjust to having KG and Powe in the lineup. If possible, the team needs to continue the positive momentum they've generated before this break and be ready for the opening round.
Still, I can't see this team losing many home games to teams like the Nets, Heat, and Wizards. So the team should have adequate momentum headed into the first round. Which brings me back to the original point.
We'll have to use the first round to get the KG and Powe back in the flow. If we can't get Garnett back for the 2nd round (and thus likely the rest of the playoffs), home court won't matter all that much anyway.