Celtics Title Town

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Mike Felger thinks the Celtics planned to lose to the Bobcats.

Why?

Well, the C's benched Paul Pierce, and then gave Kevin Garnett just 21 minutes of playing time.

The reason for that, according to Felger, is simple: Being the 6th or 7th seed means they don't have to play the Heat until the Conference Finals, whereas a 4th or 5th seed means they have to play the Heat one series sooner.

The rest of the guys on the show - Glenn Ordway, Chris Gasper, and Kirk Minihane - are a little more skeptical of Felger's hunch.

What do you think? Video here

I don't agree with Felger, but the Celtics help his case tonight with their worst game of the season. What I don't get from all of this? First of all I get why Doc picked the Bobcats to rest Pierce. But didn't the Celtics just have a big stretch of time off? So I don't like the fact that he got the entire game off. Why not limit his minutes? I think the Celtics should balance rest, and seeding. I would have rather of seen Doc rest  Pierce over the weekend. Think about it. Doc could have rested Pierce Thursday, Friday, Saturday, and Sunday. Four days off. The Celtics would have played the Bobcats at home Saturday, a higher chance to win that game. Felger has a point, even if I disagree with him. Doc did take KG out quicker than usual. Doc normally fights closer to the 3 minute mark in a double digit deficit, and in this game it could have been the 5 minute mark, but Doc took KG out around 9-10 minute mark if I recall. Anyway the Celtics planned this entire rest thing poorly this time. I think giving Paul four days off made more sense to me.

So now the Celtics lose a game that they will look back on. This game will be that game we all look back on when the Celtics lose out on a prime spot in the East. The Celtics shouldn't want to avoid Miami, they'll see them sooner or later assuming they get to the second or third round. I don't see the Celtics tanking on purpose because they still have,or had a slim chance at winning the Atlantic. Now they made things even harder. What do you make of Felger's theory?