The No. 2 seed in the East will play a major role in who makes the onference finals, some experts say.
ESPN asked five different NBA analysts — Tim Bontemps, Bobby Marks, Kevin Pelton, Jorge Sedano and Andre Snellings — who they believed would make the Eastern Conference Finals. Three of the five said it would come own to the runaway No. 1 seed Milwaukee Bucks and whoever earned the No. 2 seed, which will likely be between the Boston Celtics and Toronto Raptors.
“That potential Eastern Conference semifinal will likely hinge on whichever team can secure home court,” Bontemps wrote.
“Getting the second seed is the equivalent to receiving a bye in the first round — no offense to Orlando or Brooklyn, but Milwaukee and either Toronto or Boston will be looking at a potential sweep in Round 1. Meanwhile, the other two series could be steel-cage matches,” Marks added.
The other two analysts were split. Snellings has the Bucks and Raptors reaching the conference finals while Sedano believes it will be Milwaukee vs. Boston.
“Jayson Tatum’s ascension has been extraordinary to watch. Jaylen Brown is also a tantalizing young talent. Kemba Walker seems to be giving the Celtics everything they wanted from Kyrie Irving but with fewer frustrations,” Sedano wrote.
In other words, if the Celtics can lock up the No. 2 seed, four of the five experts believe they will earn a berth in the Eastern Conference Finals.
The Celtics went into Wednesday night’s game against the Cleveland Cavaliers 1.5 games back of Toronto for the No. 2 seed. (Of course, Tuesday night’s collapse against the Brooklyn Nets didn’t help.)
Anyway, it will be interesting to see how the race for the No. 2 seed plays out down the stretch.
