It took a blowout victory and some outside help to make it happen, but the Celtics are onto the knockout stage of the inaugural NBA in-season tournament.
Boston needed a win of 23-plus points over Chicago on Tuesday and a Nets triumph over the Raptors in order to advance to the quarterfinals of the tournament. Sure enough, the Celtics claimed a 124-97 win over the Bulls at TD Garden and Brooklyn took down Toronto 115-103 at Barclays Center.
The C’s, who own the Eastern Conference’s third seed in the tournament, will visit the No. 2 Indiana Pacers next Monday with a trip to the semifinals on the line. If Boston comes out on top against Tyrese Haliburton and company, it will play the winner of next Tuesday’s New York Knicks-Milwaukee Bucks matchup in Las Vegas on Dec. 7.
The in-season tournament championship game is slated for Dec. 9, with $500,000 going to every player on the final team standing.
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The Celtics only will play one game before their quarterfinal matchup with the Pacers, and it’s a big one. Boston on Friday night will welcome reigning NBA MVP Joel Embiid and the Philadelphia 76ers to TD Garden for a potential playoff preview.
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