Four teams still in mix to play Celtics in first round of playoffs

The Celtics won't know their first-round opponent until Tuesday, April 15. Here's the state of the race for the No. 7 seed.

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Apr 7, 2025 - 11:23
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Four teams still in mix to play Celtics in first round of playoffs

Four teams still in mix to play Celtics in first round of playoffs originally appeared on NBC Sports Boston

The Boston Celtics are just about locked into the No. 2 seed in the Eastern Conference, which has been the case for quite a while.

The same can’t be said for which opponent the Celtics will face in the first round of the 2025 NBA playoffs. The race for the No. 7 seed is still very much up in the air.

There are four teams — the Orlando Magic, Atlanta Hawks, Chicago Bulls and Miami Heat — still in the mix, although the Magic and Hawks remain the favorites.

The Celtics’ first-round opponent will be the winner of the No. 7 vs. No. 8 game in the play-in tournament, which is scheduled for Tuesday, April 15. This means the Celtics will have about four or five days to prepare for their first-round series.

Here’s an updated look at the standings and No. 7 seed probabilities as of Monday morning:

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The Magic and Hawks play each other twice more — Tuesday in Orlando and Sunday in Atlanta. Those two games could end up deciding which team hosts the No. 7 vs. No. 8 play-in tournament game.

The Magic also have to play the Celtics on Wednesday and the Indiana Pacers on Friday, while the Hawks also play the Brooklyn Nets on Thursday and Philadelphia 76ers on Friday.

The Bulls are only one game behind the Hawks for the No. 8 seed. They’ve won three games in a row and seven of their last 10. The Bulls have four games left — Tuesday against the Cleveland Cavaliers, Wednesday against the Heat, Friday against the Wizards and Sunday against the Sixers.

It looked like the Heat had dropped out of the No. 7 seed race in mid-March after losing 10 straight games. But a five-game win streak at the end of the month propelled Miami back into the mix. The Heat are still long shots to get into the No. 7 vs. No. 8 play-in game, but it’s not an impossible task.

Miami has four games remaining — Monday against the Sixers, Wednesday against the Bulls, Friday against the Pelicans and Sunday against the Wizards.

The ideal first-round opponent for the Celtics likely would be the Magic. Orlando is a strong defensive team, but its offense ranks among the worst in the league. The Magic are also dealing with injuries and don’t have a ton of playoff experience.

Overall, the Celtics shouldn’t have too much trouble with any potential Round 1 opponent. The real challenge doesn’t start until the conference semifinals.

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