Predictably, Boston’s regulars to sit out the Bubble Finale against Washington

The Boston Celtics are locked into the #3 seed, so they’re not taking any risks with the start of the playoffs. With tomorrow’s final seeding game matchup against the Washington Wizards, the Celtics are protecting their regulars by holding them out for rest.

Although Jayson Tatum, Daniel Theis, and Kemba Walker are all listed with actual injuries, there doesn’t appear to be anything to worry about. All three players finished the win against the Memphis Grizzlies with ease, so they’ll likely be all set and ready to go when the playoffs begin on August 17th.

Despite a shaky start, the Celtics actually had a very successful slate of seeding games in the Bubble. They lost to Milwaukee and almost gave up a huge lead to the Portland Trail Blazers, sure. But they tightened up loose ends and were super solid down the stretch. Tatum found his February groove again, Gordon Hayward is free to focus on just video games and hoops (meaning he is THRIVING), Jaylen Brown was sensational on both ends of the court consistently, and Kemba Walker erased all doubts about his knees with a hyper-efficient stretch of games.

The Boston Celtics are in a good spot.

They’ll likely face off against the Philadelphia 76ers in the 3-6 matchup unless Indiana loses both of its remaining games (vs. HOU and MIA). Philly could be doing a lot better, with the already-dysfunctional team learning that Ben Simmons will be out for a long period of time due to a left knee subluxation. Down their second-best player and with Boston playing elite defense with their offense clicking on all cylinders as it has in the past 1.5 weeks, they’re in good shape.

The Boston Celtics will seek to match last year’s win total despite the shortened season in their Bubble Finale tomorrow against the winless Washington Wizards at noon EST.