Celtics Should Fear One Team in East and It's Not The Cavaliers

The Boston Celtics enter this year’s playoffs in a slightly worse spot than last year. They are only the second seed in the East behind the Cleveland Cavaliers, which could mean the two teams are in for a difficult series.

However, there is always a chance a dark horse team pops up and takes one of those two teams out, interrupting the seemingly inevitable collision course.

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The most likely culprit is the Indiana Pacers, who so happened to be the underdog who wreaked havoc in the playoff bracket just last season.

The Cavaliers and Pacers both faced off with the Celtics in last year’s playoffs. The Celtics handily beat both of them, but looking at each individual game, despite the Cavs series being a gentleman’s sweep and the Pacers series being a regular sweep, the Pacers series was actually closer.

The total margin of victory for the Celtics in the Pacers series was +27. Besides a 16-point victory in Game 2, each game of the series was a close one, with the second-highest margin of victory being Game 1’s overtime win.

Interestingly, the Pacers statistically weren’t a great clutch team last year, but this year, they were much improved, meaning they are more likely to win a close game in this year’s playoffs.

The Cavaliers series, despite the Celtics losing Game 2 by a whopping 24 points, had a wider margin of victory with 36 points. The closest any of the games were was a seven-point victory in Game 4.

While both teams are very different this season, both are still scary in their own ways this season for the Celtics.

Arguably, the scariest part of the Pacers is that their third-leading scorer didn’t even play in last year’s playoffs, while the Cavaliers roster is still relatively similar. Ben Mathurin, who averaged 16.1 points per game, didn’t play at all in the playoffs last year, which will add a new element to this year’s iteration.

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The Pacers also didn’t have Tyrese Haliburton for two games, who is a huge part of their offense. Despite missing Haliburton, the Pacers gave the Celtics a run for their money in the Eastern Conference finals. The Cavs were missing Donovan Mitchell for two games, but they crumbled without him.

While looking at team statistics suggests the Cavaliers are the biggest threat to the Celtics returning to the finals, fans should be just as scared, if not more scared, if the Pacers manage to knock off the Cavaliers and face off with them once again the Eastern Conference finals, looking to avenge last year’s loss.

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