The Celtics clearly don’t care what seed they get in the playoffs, and Doc Rivers openly admits as much.  “It doesn’t matter who we face in the second round or the third round or the finals,” he said before Friday’s loss, “because that means we’d be there. You hear people around the league talking about who they want to play, or don’t, but the first seeds, you never hear them talk about that. You may not be a first seed, but you have to think like one.”

The Celtics won’t be a first seed, and they won’t be a second seed either.  But the third seed, which is still up for grabs (Boston trails Atlanta by one game, but holds the tiebreaker should the two teams share the same record), could still be Boston’s.  It’s either that, or the fourth seed. 

Almost definitely, at either the third or fourth seed, Boston will play either the Milwaukee Bucks or Miami Heat.  Right now, the Bucks hold a one-game lead ahead of Miami for the fifth seed, as well as the tiebreaker should the two teams tie.  It’s looking like Boston will get the fourth seed, behind Atlanta, and play Milwaukee in the first round.  Chris Forsberg has more analysis, and here are the standings.

Eastern Conference
EASTERN		W	L	PCT	GB	HOME	ROAD	DIV	CONF	PF	PA	DIFF	STRK	L10
1	Cleveland	61	19	.763	-	35-5	26-14	12-4	38-12	102.5	95.5	+7.0	Lost 2	6-4
2	Orlando	56	23	.709	4 ½	33-7	23-16	10-6	36-13	102.3	95.1	+7.3	Won 3	8-2
3	Atlanta	50	29	.633	10 ½	33-7	17-22	7-8	29-20	101.6	97.2	+4.4	Won 1	5-5
4	Boston	49	30	.620	11 ½	24-16	25-14	13-3	32-17	99.3	95.4	+3.8	Lost 1	4-6
5	Milwaukee	45	34	.570	15 ½	28-11	17-23	10-6	30-19	97.7	95.8	+1.9	Won 4	6-4
6	Miami	44	35	.557	16 ½	23-17	21-18	9-7	29-20	96.2	94.2	+2.1	Lost 1	9-1
7	Charlotte	42	37	.532	18 ½	30-9	12-28	10-6	25-24	95.2	93.7	+1.5	Lost 1	7-3
8	Toronto	38	41	.481	22 ½	24-15	14-26	10-5	27-22	103.8	105.9	-2.1	Lost 4	3-7
	Chicago	38	41	.481	22 ½	23-17	15-24	10-6	25-24	97.3	99.5	-2.1	Lost 1	6-4