One Game on the Celtics' Remaining Schedule Suddenly Got Incredibly Important

The Celtics won their game, but what a rival did just made things a bit tougher for Boston

Feb 8, 2026; Boston, Massachusetts, USA; New York Knicks guard Jordan Clarkson (00) and guard Josh Hart (3) defend against Boston Celtics guard Jaylen Brown (7) in the second half at TD Garden. Mandatory Credit: David Butler II-Imagn Images | David Butler II-Imagn Images

The Celtics beat the Memphis Grizzlies on Friday night, but they still suffered a loss. 

The New York Knicks barely beat the Brooklyn Nets, and by doing so, they have clinched the tiebreak against Boston. 

The Celtics and Knicks play each other on April 9, but New York has already won two of the three matchups so far. So if Boston wins that game but the teams still end up tied in the standings, they’d have to go to the third tiebreaker to award the second seed. 

The first tiebreaker is head-to-head record, which in this scenario, would be even at two. Since they're in the same division, the second tiebreakers wouldn’t apply either. That brings them to the third tiebreaker, Division won-lost percentage. 

The best Boston can get to is 11-5. New York’s win gave them their 12th division victory. So now the April 9 game becomes even more important for Boston. 

The Celtics are 47-23 while New York is 46-25, which makes Boston’s magic number to clinch the second seed is 12. Any combination of Boston wins and New York losses totalling 12 gives Boston the second seed. This is because, theoretically, if the Knicks win all 11 of their remaining games, Boston would need to win all 12 of theirs to avoid a tie. 

We can probably safely bet that New York wouldn’t win ALL of their 11 remaining games, so each loss becomes very important for Boston’s chances to stay in second. By winning on April 9, the Celtics would get the double benefit of adding a win their count while handing the Knicks a loss to theirs. 

“At the end of the day, we've just got to keep playing our game,” Joe Mazzulla said of the standings watch. “Some of it is within our control, some of it's not. It's been that way most of the time I've been here. We've just got to control what you can, and continue to get better.”

New York has some tough remaining games on their schedule. They have road games in Charlotte, Oklahoma City, Houston, and Atlanta. They have home games against Boston, Toronto, and Charlotte. There are probably at least two or three losses in there for the Knicks.

But the Celtics have to face OKC again as part of the third-toughest remaining schedule in the NBA, according to Tankahon. 

It’s going to get close, which means the April 9 game could be the most important game left on the schedule. Winning that game might be the double-whammy that settles Boston in second and the Knicks in third. That would mean Boston getting home court if these two teams meet in the Conference Semifinals again. Obviously this all means nothing if the Celtics stumble and the Knicks catch fire, but if things keep going at the current pace, April 9 could be a huge deal for both teams.