BOSTON -- The frustration level across the Celtics organization in the wake of an underwhelming season so far has been evident in many areas, from testy postgame press conferences to finger pointing on the court between teammates. On Saturday, we found out that frustration level is also present at the top of the organization as well as Celtics majority owner Wyc Grousbeck spoke at a panel at the 13th annual MIT Sloan Sports Analytics Conference at Hynes Convention Center.
Grousbeck was questioned by moderator Jackie MacMullan about the C’s struggles in the wake of a six losses in Boston’s last nine games which had dropped the team into the fifth seed in the Eastern Conference with less than 20 games remaining in the regular season.
“We’re not contending for the regular-season title in the East,’’ Grousbeck admitted while speaking on a panel with Lakers owner Jeanie Buss. “We are contending to get out of the East. And I think the players that we — and I’m not being defensive, just being factual — I think the players that we have on the court have the capability of getting to the Finals. We also have the capability of losing in the first round. We have a very, very good set of opponents in the East, all of whom have beaten us in the last month. That’s that.’’’
It’s hard to argue with that honest assessment of this group from the co-owner who called last February the worst month he can remember since owning the franchise. With a mix of ugly home collapses against the Lakers and Clippers, a blowout loss to the Raptors and the sudden uncertainty surrounding the future of Kyrie Irving, the long-term outlook for this group is no longer guaranteed to be as positive as it once was.
Still, Grousbeck maintained hope that this playoff proven group will be able to get their act together before the postseason begins.
“I really have a lot of hope for these guys,’’ Grousbeck said. “I give us a chance. I don’t think anybody wants to play us in the playoffs. I really do think, after 16 years in the league, that these guys still have a chance.’’
The Celtics did get a favor from a couple of teams on Saturday night as the Sixers and Pacers both dropped home games to the Warriors and Magic respectively to trim the gap between the Celtics and home court advantage in the first round. Boston currently sits three games back of Indiana and 2.5 games back against the Sixers, but they have three combined games against both those teams in the final two months of the regular season. A couple of wins in those games would give the Celtics the tiebreaker over both squads, so this group still can salvage the three seed if they can navigate a difficult schedule in the next couple of weeks, including a four-game road trip starting on Tuesday in Oakland.
- LeBron James and the Lakers dropped their fourth game over the last five contests on Saturday night, dropping them 4.5 games back of the final playoff spot in the West with under 20 games to play. With a very tough schedule looming down the stretch, it will take a miraculous run for them to sneak into the postseason. Making the lottery will give them a better pick to throw into Anthony Davis trade talks but there is not going to be anyway for their younger guys to improve their stock this postseason.
- Joel Embiid is expected to return to the Sixers lineup last week after sitting out with a sore knee since the All-Star Break. Philadelphia has gone 3-2 in his absence but their frontline has been decimated lately with injuries to Boban Marjanovic and Amir Johnson as well.
- Eric Bledsoe set an interesting starting point for the guard market this summer by agreeing to a four-year, $71 million extension this season.
- The Bucks also added a veteran piece in Pau Gasol this week after he agreed to a buyout with the Spurs on Friday. Gasol wasn’t playing in San Antonio and it’s hard to see him as more than big man insurance in Milwaukee behind Brook Lopez. If he’s getting any minutes in the playoffs, that’s good news for the C’s in a matchup given his lack of speed.