Has any other team in teh history of the NBA have an easier path to the Finals than Boston?

[CleveTown™]

lol at Rob.

I wouldn't even want the Finals appearance if it came like this.

[Robceltsfan]

Yes….many.

[thedangerouskitchen]

LeBron (alone) had many easier paths to the Finals.

Silly question.

[Uncontroversial]

This is by far the easiest.

Rob will bring up some ancient run vs teams with slightly less wins, but I looked it up. Those teams were missing their main players in the regular season. They were tough playoff opponents. Celtics run is way easier

[Uncontroversial]

All of X agrees

[_Vcsgrizzfan_]

It's kind of weird. The East looked so promising going into the season. Milwaukee with Giannis, Dame, Lopez, Middleton etc. Philly with Embiid and a solid cast. An improving Knicks team and the never discount Heat to go along with the Celtics. A lot of promise and we are left with this conference final. Indiana is a talented team, but everyone else shitting the bed wasn't on my bingo card.

[wailuaFC]

It's kind of weird. The East looked so promising going into the season. Milwaukee with Giannis, Dame, Lopez, Middleton etc. Philly with Embiid and a solid cast. An improving Knicks team and the never discount Heat to go along with the Celtics. A lot of promise and we are left with this conference final. Indiana is a talented team, but everyone else shitting the bed wasn't on my bingo card.

Reminds me of the hawks making the ecf a couple years ago. Good team sure, but are the pacers really that much better than the 9 or 10 seed out of the west?

[Robceltsfan]

This is by far the easiest.

Rob will bring up some ancient run vs teams with slightly less wins, but I looked it up. Those teams were missing their main players in the regular season. They were tough playoff opponents. Celtics run is way easier

Slightly less wins...

TWICE the 80's Lakers had runs to the Finals where their WC opponents had a total record UNDER .500. In 86-87 they played the Sonics in the WCF's....a team that went 39-43 during the regular season.

They played the 8 seed, the 5 seed, and the 7 seed. A combined record of 118-128.

[elartman1973]

2009 magic had an easier path to the finals

Jk

[thedangerouskitchen]

BUMP

Celtics' Lebron-esque cakewalk to the Finals just got even easier:

https://www.espn.com/nba/story/_/id/402 ... ton-game-3

at this "Modern Era".

[Robceltsfan]

How’s the Bulls trip to the Finals going???

[Da Stars.]

Just think, if the Mavs beat the Wolves, the easiest path to a championship. Mavs will be a live dog. Deeper than most really think.

[Uncontroversial]

[Bush4Ever.]

The only thing that makes the Celtics run to the Finals a little anti-norm is not having a strong number two in the East. But the East was also relatively robust towards the mid-back of playoff teams, which hasn't always been the case.

Their first two matchups were absolutely on par or better to historical standards.

The 1984 Celtics:
Played a 35 win team in R1
Played a 47 win team in R2
Played a 50 win team in R3
Total Wins: 132

The 1986 Celtics:
Played a 30 win team in R1
Played a 50 win team in R2
Played a 57 win team in R3
Total Wins: 137

The 2008 Celtics:
Played a 37 win team in R1
Played a 45 win team in R2
Played a 59 win team in R3
Total Wins: 141

The 2024 Celtics:
Played a 46 win team in R1
Played a 48 win team in R2
Played a 47 win team in R3
Total Wins: 141

Even if you wanted to weigh the latter rounds more heavily, it's not *that* off. The lack of a strong ECF opponent is offset to some degree by having a harder first round opponent and maybe slightly better ECSF opponent, at least some years.

And that's the Celtics in 1980s East. It was probably much worse for the Lakers in the 1980s.

I would wager the 90s Bulls had a tougher road though, and I'm almost positive the Spurs teams of the 03/05/07 variety would have had a tougher road, if only because of how imbalanced the league was at the time.

[elmerjfudd]

I felt going into the postseason regardless of the seeding everyone knew the only people challenging Boston were Miami and Philly. I’m sure Milwaukee would have had some consideration if Giannis was healthy but they sure didn’t show anything to suggest they be a threat to Boston given how they played under their new coach.

[thedangerouskitchen]

The only thing that makes the Celtics run to the Finals a little anti-norm is not having a strong number two in the East. But the East was also relatively robust towards the mid-back of playoff teams, which hasn't always been the case.

Their first two matchups were absolutely on par or better to historical standards.

The 1984 Celtics:
Played a 35 win team in R1
Played a 47 win team in R2
Played a 50 win team in R3
Total Wins: 132

The 1986 Celtics:
Played a 30 win team in R1
Played a 50 win team in R2
Played a 57 win team in R3
Total Wins: 137

The 2008 Celtics:
Played a 37 win team in R1
Played a 45 win team in R2
Played a 59 win team in R3
Total Wins: 141

The 2024 Celtics:
Played a 46 win team in R1
Played a 48 win team in R2
Played a 47 win team in R3
Total Wins: 141

Even if you wanted to weigh the latter rounds more heavily, it's not *that* off. The lack of a strong ECF opponent is offset to some degree by having a harder first round opponent and maybe slightly better ECSF opponent, at least some years.

And that's the Celtics in 1980s East. It was probably much worse for the Lakers in the 1980s.

I would wager the 90s Bulls had a tougher road though, and I'm almost positive the Spurs teams of the 03/05/07 variety would have had a tougher road, if only because of how imbalanced the league was at the time.

It's not just the W/L records... if you're being fair and objective, you need to also factor in injuries.

- First round against the Heat (playing withOut their BEST player Jimmy Butler)
- Semi's against the Cavs (missing their 17/11 Center Allen AND w/out their BEST player Mitchell for 2 of the 5 games
- ECF against the Pacers (who played Game 3 withOut Haliburton and STILL almost won)

So when you "combine" the overall mediocrity of the 3 opponents with the fact that they were ALSO missing their best player/s for much or all of the series', Boston's run through the EC has been all-time weak... right up there with a couple of the Lakers' WC runs in the 80's, and several of LeFraud's cakewalks during the 10's.

I'm sure this was just an honest oversight on your part.

[Havlicekstealsit]

Not saying they have the easiest path, but they've also been missing a 20ppg scorer and will be without him again for game 4.