Getting locked into second seed is a blessing in disguise for Celtics

The Celtics had a chance to ensure the race for the No. 1 seed went down to Game No. 82 on Wednesday night. That fact in itself was an improbable feat to begin with. The Raptors held a six-game lead over Boston in the East standings as recently as two weeks ago. Somehow, the Celtics managed to close that gap to two games in spite of a laundry list of injuries to key parts of Brad Stevens’ rotation.

Any dreams of landing that top seed came to a halt at the Air Canada Centre on Wednesday however, as the Raptors dispatched an undermanned Celtics team easily with a 96-78 victory. Toronto now leads Boston by three games in the standings with just four games to play. One more Raptors win or Celtics loss will clinch the top seed for Toronto.

While the idea of the Celtics chasing the No. 1 seed throughout the final week of the regular season with a skeleton crew was a fun thought in theory, the truth is Boston's loss on Wednesday night is actually a blessing in disguise for this crew.

With the status of Kyrie Irving and Marcus Smart in doubt for the first round of the postseason, there is simply no margin for error for this group right now on the injury front. The priority needs to be not just resting any aches and pains being experienced by members of the rotation, but preserving energy for what should be a challenging first round series, no matter the opponent.

There is no question that the Celtics would be prioritizing health over wins during the final week of the year anyway, but the lure of chasing the Raptors would have been tough for Stevens to ignore outright if Toronto stumbled down the stretch. The added motivation for guys like Terry Rozier to gut it out days after suffering a sprained left ankle is exhibit A on that front. He obviously wanted to be out there with the C's still playing for something in the standings.

A win on Wednesday would have put the Celtics just one game back over Toronto and given them the tiebreaker edge over the Raptors. It’s hard to keep your top players from fighting hard for homecourt advantage when it remains a realistic possibility, especially when you don’t have enough healthy bodies to bench most of them anyway.

Wednesday’s result makes things far simpler for Stevens on that front. He can schedule his planned rest days and reduced minutes without the potential lure of catching the Raptors, the value of which may have been limited in the long run anyway. With the uncertainty remaining in race for the No. 3-4 seeds as well as No. 6-8 spots, the Celtics may end up with an easier path to the East Finals in the No. 2 spot anyway.

“If guys are having any nicks or bruises, then they’re going to sit,” Stevens explained of his plans after Wednesday’s loss. “But I would like to be able to play our group together at least once or twice before we head in [to the playoffs].”

All of this isn’t to say there wasn’t value in the team making things interesting over the past couple weeks. This is the group the Celtics are going to have to win a playoff series with in all likelihood and it’s evident that confidence is building in players like Jayson Tatum, Marcus Morris and Rozier with their standout performances over the past couple weeks. When Stevens has a couple healthy point guards to work with (i.e. Rozier and Shane Larkin), he has found the right lineups to get past playoff-level opponents. That’s important knowledge for any first round matchup.

The head coach will be able to do some tinkering over the next four games. He can play his tops guys for a half here and there. Maybe even go with a full strength lineup or close it on Tuesday night against the Wizards if he wants to avoid them as a first round matchup.

Beyond that, there’s no question that what is left of this group deserves a break and they have no reason not to take one now that the top seed is settled. It’s the best thing for this team right now and it is why losing on Wednesday night is probably a good thing in the long run.