Celtics can clinch No. 2

Boston can finish the race for the Eastern Conference’s No. 2 seed on Thursday, April 9, with a win at Madison Square Garden over New York. The National Basketball Association’s own playoff page showed Boston in second place after games on April 8, and the game preview for Thursday says one more Celtics win locks that spot in. (nba.com 1) (nba.com 2) The standings are tight enough that this one game changes the map. Boston entered Thursday at 54-25, New York at 51-28, and Cleveland at 50-29, so a Celtics win pushes Boston to 55 wins and puts the Knicks and Cavaliers too far back to catch them. (espn.com) (nba.com) That matters because the No. 2 seed skips the Play-In Tournament entirely and opens Round 1 at home. The National Basketball Association says the play-in runs April 14 through April 17, and the full playoffs start April 18. (nba.com) As of the latest bracket update, the No. 2 seed would draw the East’s No. 7 team, while New York at No. 3 would be lined up with Toronto at No. 6. On April 8, the league’s projected East bracket showed Boston versus the No. 7 play-in winner and New York versus Toronto. (nba.com) Boston also gets a cleaner calendar by ending the seeding fight now. The Celtics play in New York on April 9 and then host New Orleans on April 10, and Jayson Tatum told NBA.com he has not played back-to-backs this season after returning from his Achilles injury. (nba.com) (espn.com) The New York game has extra weight because Tatum’s last game at Madison Square Garden was the playoff game in which he ruptured that Achilles tendon in May 2025. NBA.com’s preview says he has averaged 21.6 points, 9.8 rebounds, and 5.1 assists in 15 games since returning, and Boston has gone 13-2 in those games. (nba.com) New York still has its own reason to treat this like a playoff night. The Knicks came in on a three-game winning streak, had won five straight at home, and can still climb as high as second if Boston slips. (nba.com) Cleveland is the other team watching because the Cavaliers are still alive for either No. 3 or No. 4. ESPN’s standings had Cleveland at 50-29 entering Thursday, and the Cavaliers’ official schedule shows they finish with Atlanta on April 10 and Washington on April 12. (espn.com) (nba.com) If Boston wins, that whole part of the East mostly stops moving. Detroit stays on top, Boston is locked into second, and New York and Cleveland keep sorting out third and fourth behind them. (nba.com) (espn.com) If Boston loses, the last weekend stays messy. The Knicks would pull within two games of the Celtics with two games left for New York, and Boston would still need to finish the job later instead of walking out of Madison Square Garden with its bracket spot settled. (espn.com) (nba.com)