With the NBA All-Star weekend now in the rearview, the Boston Celtics get set to begin the second half of the season.
The 38-16 Celtics rank fifth in ESPN’s NBA Power Rankings released Monday for Week 18. It’s the same spot Boston ranked Week 17, prior to going up against a pair of teams in the top-10. The Celtics fell to the Houston Rockets but defeated the Los Angeles Clippers during the stretch.
Each of the top-five teams — the No. 1 Milwaukee Bucks, Los Angeles Lakers, Toronto Raptors, Denver Nuggets and Celtics — remained the same. The Utah Jazz jumped from ninth to seventh while the Miami Heat fell from seventh to eighth.
Here’s what ESPN had to say about the C’s:
The final 28 games in the regular season will be all about playoff positioning for Boston. Barring a losing streak — their longest is three games — the Celtics, who currently own the No. 3 seed in the East, will likely host their first-round match up. The Celtics are three games ahead of the No. 4 Heat and 2½ games back of the No. 2 Raptors, and there is a distinct advantage to being the No. 2 seed rather than No. 4. In addition to avoiding Milwaukee until the conference finals, leapfrogging the Raptors to claim the No. 2 seed would see Boston likely host Brooklyn, while falling to No. 4 could set up a date with Philadelphia.
The Celtics will return from the break as they travel to face the Minnesota Timberwolves on Friday.
