The Boston Celtics have accomplished what many thought was out of their reach at the start of the season.They have dethroned the Cleveland Cavaliers and taken the top seed in the Eastern Conference. As far as the regular-season goes, the Celtics are the top team in their conference."It's very special. For me, it is," star guard Isaiah Thomas said after the game (h/t Associated Press and ESPN.com). "I've never been a No. 1 seed. I'm excited now. But once you get the playoffs, the seedings go out the window."The Celtics may eventually have to prove they can beat the Cavs in a best-of-seven series, and that will likely prove much tougher.Such a series wouldn't take place until May, as the Celtics and Cavaliers couldn't meet until the Eastern Conference Final.The Celtics won their regular-season finale over the Milwaukee Bucks, and they finished with a 53-29 record. The Cavs lost to the Toronto Raptors, and both of those teams finished with 51-31 records.In addition to home-court advantage throughout the Eastern Conference playoffs, the Celtics will get to play the winner of the Cleveland-Toronto seriesif the seeds hold upwhile the winner of that series would get thrown right back into the fire against Boston.The Celtics will open the playoffs against the eighth-seeded Chicago Bulls, who were among the most puzzling teams in the league this year.The Bulls have often played good teams in a competitive manner while losing to teams that were not even close to playoff contention.That was not the case on the final day of the regular season as Chicago rolled to a 112-73 win over the Brooklyn Nets. Brooklyn rested many of its top players even though its season is over.The Celtics have emerged as one of the most complete teams in the league as a result of an opportunistic offense led by Thomas and a hounding style of defense that allowed them to close out opponents in the second half of the season.Whether they are strong enough to compete with elite teams like the Cavs, Golden State Warriors or San Antonio Spurs is another matter, but the Celtics have learned how to put away most opponents when they get the opportunity.Head coach Brad Stevens has put together a compelling rotation that allows Thomas to get his rest at key moments throughout the game and then come in and do much of his damage when the game is on the line in the fourth quarter.Thomas is averaging 29.1 points per game and also handing out 5.9 assists per night. He gets support from Avery Bradley, who is averaging 16.4 ppg, while Al Horford is averaging 14.0 points and 6.9 rebounds per game. Other key players for the Celtics include Jae Crowder and Marcus Smart, who are both averaging in double figures and playing aggressive defense.The Bulls have a couple of stars in Jimmy Butler and Dwyane Wade, who are averaging 23.9 and 18.5 ppg, respectively. Despite that seemingly solid production, the Bulls rarely play consistently and have a difficult time employing a team concept.The Bulls regularly play a lot of one-on-one basketball, and when they do try to work the ball around and look for the open man, they make far too many bad choices and turnovers.The Bulls finished the regular-season with a 41-41 record, but they will have a difficult time competing with the Celtics for 48 minutes. It would be a shocker if the Bulls won more than one game in this series.Other Eastern Conference first-round series include the second-seeded Cavaliers facing the seventh-seeded Indiana Pacers (42-40), the third-seeded Raptors facing the sixth-seeded Milwaukee Bucks (42-40) and the fourth-seeded Washington Wizards (49-33) having home-court advantage when they meet the fifth-seeded Atlanta Hawks (43-39).The Golden State Warriors have finished with the best record in the league at 67-15, and they will take on the eighth-seeded Portland Trail Blazers (41-41). These two teams met in the playoffs last year, and the Warriors won that series in five games.While that sounds about right this time around, the Blazers won eight of their last 11 games as the regular season came to a close.Golden State finished the regular season with a league-best 67-15 record after beating the Los Angeles Lakers in the regular-season finale.The return of Kevin Durant should make the Warriors formidable once again. He missed 20 games this season as a result of a knee injury, but he returned in the final week of the season.The combination of Steph Curry, Klay Thompson and Durant make it nearly impossible to beat the Warriors in a scoring contest, and the only way to shut them down is with air-tight defense, and that does not appear to be Portland's game since the Blazers give up 108.5 points per game.Curry is averaging 25.4 points and 6.6 assists per night, while Durant is scoring 25.0 per game. Thompson would be the best player on a number of teams, but he thrives in his all-around role with the Warriors. He is scoring 22.5 points per night and is a strong defensive player.The Trail Blazers like to run up and down the court with their high-scoring backcourt duo of Damian Lillard and C.J. McCollum. Lillard is averaging 27.0 points and 5.9 assists per night, while McCollum is scoring 23.0 points per game. Both guards are among the best free-throw shooters in the league.In addition to Lillard and McCollum, Allen Crabbe, Jusuf Nurkic and Maurice Harkless are averaging in double figures for head coach Terry Stotts. Nurkic has a lower leg injury, and he may not be at his best if he can play in this series.The other Western Conference series include the San Antonio Spurs (61-21) meeting the seventh-seeded Memphis Grizzlies (43-39), the third-seeded Houston Rockets (55-27) facing the sixth-seeded Oklahoma City Thunder (47-35), while the fourth-seeded Los Angeles Clippers (51-31) will take on the fifth-seeded Utah Jazz (51-31).
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