The Celtics will be back in Boston on Tuesday, heading home after being soundly beaten in crunch time by the Pacers in a 122-112 loss in the quarterfinals of the NBA in-season tournament Monday night. There were some familiar areas of concern for Boston after the loss, which dropped the Celtics to 6-5 on the road this year. The visitors surrendered a 9-0 run in crunch time to a Pacers squad as the defense suffered from miscommunications and the offense delivered uninspiring possessions. Boston’s road offense (19th in the NBA) continues to be a problem as it stumbled late against one of the NBA’s worst defenses.
Ultimately, the Celtics are still in a great position in the standings at the quarterpole of the season with an East-best 15-5 record through 20 games. That mark comes despite playing one of the toughest schedules in the league. The Celtics will now have three days of rest before facing off against the loser of the Knicks-Bucks matchup at TD Garden on Friday night.
That consolation prize is quite the silver lining for the Celtics in the big picture on several fronts. Boston winning the in-season tournament would have made for a fun story and provided some eye-opening cash for the Boston bench and coaching staff. However, from a 10,000-foot view, bowing out in the quarterfinals may be a more appealing development for the Celtics goals this year.
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First, consider the schedule. With the loss, the Celtics will play just one game in the next seven days (on Friday night) and will play five games in the next two weeks total, all coming at TD Garden. After a brutal road schedule to begin the year in November, avoiding an extra trip to the west coast could do wonders for the team from a rest perspective. Boston is already set to play a four-game road trip in two weeks starting against the Warriors and finishing up with a tilt against the Lakers on Christmas. Going back and forth across the country twice in three weeks would have been a tough ask for this group from a fatigue standpoint, particularly with the raised stakes of the in-season tournament for the Vegas games.
An elimination now for the in-season tournament also reduces the stakes in the present for a couple of potentially hobbled veterans. Kristaps Porzingis is still working his way back from a strained calf and would certainly be itching to get back on the floor if Boston had advanced to the semifinals. Instead, he gets an added extra day of rest until the Celtics’ next game along with some lower stakes in that matchup. If Boston’s training staff wants to play it safe, they could give him three more days off after Friday since the Celtics won’t play again until Tuesday night against the Cavs.
There’s also the issue of Jrue Holiday who came up hobbling in the final minute of Monday’s loss before being subbed out of the game. The 34-year-old would have plenty of incentive to play through any lingering pain in Las Vegas. Now? The Celtics can play it safe with him, if needed, without any kind of financial remorse or added pressure to compete.
Any risk of complacency also can fade into the background in the wake of how the Celtics lost to a mediocre Pacers squad on the road. Haliburton was great but the Celtics struggled in a few key areas yet again in crunch time while also letting go of the rope on both ends in an ugly third quarter. Boston has been an average team all year on the road and that was highlighted yet again in Indiana. Working through those issues at home in the next week while getting some added rest could pay dividends for this team in the big picture.
A trip to Vegas may have made for a fun story but this team has far more important goals this year. Avoiding an extra busy week in what will likely be a 100-plus game grind may end up helping more over the long haul than some extra cash in everyone’s pockets.
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