Once again, it's time for our portion of ESPNBoston.com's summer forecast. Yesterday, I predicted 55 wins for this upcoming season (Chuck, by the way has 56. Jay has 58). Today, the panel of bloggers figures out what seed the C's will end up with. Jay (MrTrpleDouble10) has the C's finishing 2nd in the east.
Although the East got collectively better overall (Miami, Chicago, Milwaukee), the Celtics have two things in their favor. 1) They're in the Atlantic Division, which their magic number to clinch is zero, right now. 2) With the Superfriends forming in Miami, Orlando's stroll to a Southeast Division title is not as easy now. Factor in that the Hawks, Charlotte Bobcats and an improved Wizards team all reside in that division, I can see Miami and Orlando having a bigger battle for the division title and a higher seed. With that being said, I see the Celtics ending up as the No. 2 seed. Remember, it's not essential that they have home-court advantage in the playoffs as last season proved, but last season was a huge NBA anomaly. It rarely happens that a lower seed advances as far as the Celtics did and it's usually not a wise approach to take.
I have the C's finishing third, as does Chuck. Slight improvement from last year... but a nod to Orlando's usual regular season success.
Of course, follow the link for perspective from other great C's bloggers... and chime in with your own opinion in the comments.