Things have gotten a bit weird in the East, and it seems like everyone wants a piece of the Bulls. Going into Sunday's action, the Bucks, Celtics and 76ers are ranked second, third and fourth in the conference, respectively. However, they're only separated by half a game. So this is just a quick breakdown of each scenario Celtics fans can prepare for.
If the Bucks win against Cleveland (tipoff is at 3:30 p.m.), they finish second in the East. However, Giannis Antetokounmpo, Khris Middleton, Brook Lopez and Bobby Portis are all listed as doubtful Sunday. Additionally, the Cavs are playing to at least keep their spot in the play-in tournament's seven-eight seed game.
If the Bucks lose and the Celtics win, Boston will own the tiebreaker because they have the superior record against Eastern Conference playoff teams (this scenario requires the C's and Bucks to go past multiple tiebreakers). If both the Celtics and Bucks experience the same results on Sunday, Milwaukee stays in second, but Boston will have to scoreboard-watch Philadelphia-Detroit, which starts at 7 p.m. like Boston-Memphis.
Philly cannot move higher than third place, regardless of where they finish. However, After beating Indiana on Saturday, the 76ers can move into third if they win and the Celtics lose.
So, where things seemed fairly simple for the Celtics just a short bit ago, Sunday might require Boston to do a little scoreboard watching if they're hunting for the third seed.
