Could the Celtics missing the NBA Cup be a positive for the team?
The defending champion Boston Celtics missed out on getting the chance to go to Vegas and play for the NBA Cup in the in season tournament. Celtics fans and NBA fans in general seem to have mixed feelings on the NBA Cup and it’s importance at all during the season. However for a Celtics team with aging veterans and a few superstars that have been playing basketball year round missing out on that trip to Vegas may benefit them going forward.
Boston has only played twice over the last week getting wins over the Wizards and the Pistons two of the worst teams in the league. They were able to get these wins while sitting Porzingis, Horford, Tatum and more in one of the two games. The Celtics continue to prove they’re the most dominant team in the league when healthy, and potentially the only thing standing in their way of repeating as champs is health.
The bad news for Celtics fans was that Kristaps Porzingis got banged up in yesterday’s game against the Wizards. But he did seem in good spirits leaving the floor and commented that it was more precautionary than anything else. Celtics superstar Jayson Tatum missed the game during the week against the Pistons. Always a scary sight for Celtics fans to see Tatum pop up on the injury report because Tatum refuses to sit out games, head coach Joe Mazzulla and Celtics GM Brad Stevens have both commented numerous times on how hard it is to get Tatum to miss games.
So when Tatum was given the green light to play yesterday it was great to see him start the game looking explosive and healthy. Tatum has been playing more basketball over the last few years than just about anyone else in the world from the Celtics repeated long playoff runs and the Olympics. Anytime you can get Tatum some rest I’m all for it. Holiday and Derrick White fall into this category as well as guys who have been playing basketball year round. I’m all for Boston prioritizing roster management and health over potentially the top seed in the Eastern Conference.
If this was last season I think I would feel differently as the Celtics still hadn’t gotten over the hump and won a championship. So every advantage they could have going into the playoffs felt like a necessity. However this season coming off a championship I think the Celtics are battle tested and have proven that they can win on the road time and time again so being healthy heading into the playoffs is far more important than making sure they have the #1 seed.
I’m sure Celtics fans would have enjoyed battling with Milwaukee, Orlando and the Thunder if they made it to the Cup Finals but I think taking a long term view of the season missing out on the NBA Cup could benefit this roster more than a couple days in Vegas. Boston also has a very light schedule this week with only two games against the Chicago Bulls another struggling team. So the Celtics can continue to rest and get healthy while also racking up wins.
