Among the NBA teams still in the playoffs, the Boston Celtics are the most criticized team. When they win, the media downplays it by saying it is expected of them as the No. 1 seed. When they lose, critics come out of the woodwork to analyze the game and make doomsday predictions. Even their stars come under fire every game they don't score 25 or more points. Put simply, the Celtics aren't allowed to have off days due to oversized expectations.
One of the biggest storylines being peddled by the mainstream media nowadays is the worthiness of the Celtics' playoff run. They claim that Boston is having the easiest path to the NBA Finals since they have been facing teams without their best players.
In the first round, Miami Heat star Jimmy Butler missed the entirety of their five-game loss to Boston due to a knee injury. In the next round, Cleveland Cavaliers' guard Donovan Mitchell missed the last two games including the series clinching Game 5. Cavs center Jarrett Allen missed the series altogether. In the Eastern Conference Finals, Indiana Pacers guard Tyrese Halliburton missed a chunk of Game 2 and Game 3. Both games were lost and now the Celtics have a commanding 3-0 lead and can close out the series in Game 4 on Tuesday morning (Manila time).
As of this writing, the status of Halliburton is still in question since it's the same hamstring that forced him to miss 10 games in the regular season.
Celtics defenders say that several playoff teams that reached the NBA Finals in the past have faced teams with a lower winning record in the regular season through three rounds. Boston's opponents (Heat, Cavaliers, and Pacers) averaged 47 wins. There were 18 NBA Finalists who faced successive teams with a lower winning combined average.
They also stress that Celtics center Kristaps Porzingis has been down with an injury since Game 4 versus the Heat, capping their obvious potential.
Critics say that despite that the teams that the Celtics faced and are facing have their best player injured and so the value of their playoff run is diminished. They add that the Celtics have never been seriously challenged in the playoffs and this works against them when they face the winner of the tough Western Conference Finals.
Objectively, the path to the NBA Finals Boston Celtics should really be easy since they own the No. 1 seed in the NBA, 14 games clear of anyone in the Eastern Conference and 7 wins more than the top team in West. The seeding gives them lower seeded opponents.
But one advantage of the Celtics is the fact that they have blown out their opponents in the regular season and the playoffs. The team has led by 20 or more points in 47 out of the 95 games they have played. This allows coach Joe Mazzulla to rest his starters, so they are fresher in upcoming games. Most teams, meanwhile, are forced to play their stars heavy minutes in more physical playoff games which make them prone to fatigue and injuries.
Bottomline, the Celtics need to play who is in front of them and its not their fault that these injuries are making their path easier. However, they now face mounting pressure and a lose-lose proposition. If they win and hang banner No. 18, it will always come with the story of how they beat injury-riddled teams. If they in the NBA Finals, it would be the biggest choke in history.
raffyrledesma@yahoo.com