Earlier this week, the Milwaukee Bucks became the first team in the Eastern Conference to clinch a spot in the 2023 NBA Playoffs. On Saturday, the Philadelphia 76ers’ division rival, the Boston Celtics, could become the second team in the conference to punch their ticket.
According to the NBA, a straight-up Celtics win on Saturday night would get the job done. In the event the Celtics don’t win their matchup, a Miami Heat loss could be a second option that would work.
On Saturday, the Celtics are set to take on the Utah Jazz. It will mark the first time the two teams will meet this season. Lately, the Jazz have been struggling, losing six of their last ten games. While they have a solid home record of 20-13, the Celtics are quite decent on the road, winning 23 of their 36 games away from home this year.
Utah has a small advantage over Boston since the Celtics just played on Friday night against the Portland Trail Blazers, but the Celtics are still favored by 3.5 in the matchup on Saturday, according to SI Sportsbook.
As for the other notable matchup between the Miami Heat and the Chicago Bulls, those two teams will meet for the third time this season. Although Chicago has struggled a lot this year, they managed to beat Miami twice earlier this year.
Chicago is still a 3.5 underdog on Saturday, but they do have the home-court advantage.
Depending on how the Chicago-Miami matchup goes, the Celtics could have a guaranteed spot in the playoffs as early as Saturday before they even conclude their matchup in Utah. Regardless of what happens in either matchup, the Celtics are well on their way to guaranteeing themselves a spot in the playoffs one way or another.
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