The Boston Celtics haven't secured the No. 2 seed in the Eastern Conference playoffs just yet, but they have a 99.6 percent chance of doing so, per Basketball Reference.
Clinching the No. 2 seed would result in the Celtics playing the No. 7 seed in the first round of the postseason. The Miami Heat had a 23.5 percent chance of getting the No. 7 seed last week, but those odds (calculated by Basketball Reference), have since dropped to 9.5 percent.
The two most likely first-round opponents for Boston are the Atlanta Hawks and Orlando Magic. Both of these teams have more than a 40 percent chance of finishing seventh, as of March 20.
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Here's an updated look at the probabilities:
The Pistons, who are 14-5 in their last 19 games (including a Feb. 26 win over the Celtics), would really need to fall apart over the next few weeks to be a No. 7 seed candidate.
The Heat and Bulls could also jump back into the mix for the No. 7 seed, but it's unlikely.
The Celtics went 1-2 against the Hawks this season. The last meeting was a 119-115 overtime defeat for the C's in Boston on Jan. 18. The Celtics have one more game against the Magic on April 9 -- the third-to-last matchup of the regular season. Boston is 1-1 versus Orlando so far this season. These teams last met on Jan. 17 at TD Garden, where the C's won 121-94.
The No. 7 seed will be determined by the winner of the No. 7 vs. No. 8 game in the play-in tournament. The play-in tournament runs from April 15-18.
The Celtics last played the Hawks in the playoffs in 2023. Boston won that first-round series in six games. The most recent Celtics-Magic playoff series was the 2010 Eastern Conference Finals, which Boston won in six games.
