Celtics Could Face Even Greater Schedule Challenges in Second Round

After a grueling regular season that, you may have heard, was a bear on the players' bodies and psyches, the first round of the playoffs was almost an extended vacation. The Celtics have never had to play on back-to-back nights against the Hawks in the series, and they got a welcome two-day break before the series began and another one between Games 2 and 3.

Nobody is looking ahead, but if the Celtics manage to close out the series Thursday night in Boston, they could be rewarded with a return to the condensed nature of the regular season. The conference semifinals are slated to start as soon as possible after the first round games are wrapped up, and round could even feature a back-to-back at some point in the series.

The schedule crunch is necessary because the playoffs, which started a week later than usual, need to be finished by approximately the same time as in other years. The draft is June 28, and if every series were to go seven games, allowing for a day in between each game, Game 7 of the NBA Finals would tip off in the third week of June. The last possible date for the Finals is June 26, a mere two days before the draft.

The Dallas Mavericks celebrated their Game 6 victory last season on June 12, leaving 11 days before the June 23 draft.

The potential schedule might not be so daunting for the Celtics if they had finished off the Hawks in Game 5 on Tuesday. That would have allowed them an extended break of at least a few days before they began the next round. If the Celtics and the Sixers both win Thursday, however, they could have just one day of rest or practice before their semifinal series opens in Boston on Saturday, according to ESPN. 

The Celtics cannot look back, of course, but this underscores just how big of a missed opportunity Game 5 was. Instead of sitting back to await their next opponent while Paul Pierce, Ray Allen, Avery Bradley and others rest some nagging injuries, they have to hope they can beat the Hawks in one of the next two games. No matter what they do Thursday, it appears the Celtics will play Saturday, and a challenging playoff run will only become more challenging.

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