C's employ avoidance strategy

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Trying to figure out the seeding system for the NBA playoffs can be an exhausting enterprise. Just ask Doc Rivers.

"One of my assistants was explaining it to me and I told him to stop," the Celtics coach said. "It was too confusing."

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AP Photo/Alex BrandonCeltics coach Doc Rivers seemed at a loss after his team collapsed against the 76ers on Wednesday.

We're still more than a month away from the postseason, but there is already one clearly defined story line for the Celtics' playoff aspirations: try to avoid Chicago and Miami in the first round. That may be easier said than done.

The Heat and Bulls appear to have locked up the first two seeds in the Eastern Conference. Right now, the Celtics would have to play one of them in the first round. It's not a pleasant thought.

There is time, plenty of it, and opportunity, plenty of it as well, for the Celtics to make an upward move. To avoid Miami or Chicago in the first round, they'd have to either overtake the Sixers to win the Atlantic Division or overtake Atlanta to get out of the No. 7 hole that they currently occupy.

After Wednesday's games, the Celtics trail both the Sixers and Hawks by two games. The way the current seeding system works is that a division winner gets no worse than a No. 4 seed. The three division winners and the non-division winner with the best record get seeded 1-4. The seedings are based on the records, so a non-division winner could get as high as No. 2.

The Celtics still have two more games against Philadelphia, admittedly not a comforting thought after Wednesday night's 103-71 smackdown at Wells Fargo Center. The headline on the back page of the Philadelphia Daily News summed it up: "Foldin' Oldies."

The Celtics have yet to play Atlanta, another strange function of the 66-game season. They will play the Hawks three times in a month, with two of the games in Atlanta. The first meeting is at Atlanta on Monday, March 19, which follows a Saturday night game in Denver. Good luck with that.

The Celtics also have three games left against Miami, two of which are in Boston, and one against the Bulls, in Chicago, the night after they play the Spurs in Boston. They play 18 of their final 28 games on the road, including three in as many nights April 13-15.

But every time it looks as though the Celtics have bottomed out and it's time for Danny Ainge to break out the TNT, they turn around and rattle off five wins in a row.

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"This Boston team, it's interesting," Sixers coach Doug Collins said after Wednesday's victory. "They've had three stretches where they were 0-3, lost six of seven and then lost like nine of 10. So they went through three stretches where they were 2-16. They also went through three stretches where they were 18-1."

The team that went 18-1 over three stretches, the last of which included five straight wins prior to Wednesday night? That's the one Rivers wants to see more of and thinks is the one he has going forward. Hence his pregame remarks that the Celtics were in "the best place we've been in all year." No one noted a laugh track.

Rivers joked Wednesday night (before the game, obviously) that all he knew was that it made good sense to win the division and avoid the top two seeds in the first round. He quickly added that that would be true in any season, not just this one, but it was pretty clear he was thinking what all Celtics fans must be thinking.

Notable

• The Celtics will meet the Portland Trail Blazers on Friday in Boston for the only time this season. After an encouraging start, the Blazers have fallen to the cellar of the Pacific Division and are below .500, having lost seven of their last 10.

The game marks the last Celtics home game until March 25, when Boston hosts the Wizards in the first TD Garden game following an eight-game road trip. So with the trade deadline coming halfway during the trip, there's a chance that Friday's game might be the last Celtic appearance for (pick a player).

Rivers said Wednesday that he would be surprised if the team made a move, and Ainge reported all was quiet on the trade front. They may actually be telling the truth, but pay no attention to the remarks. They both say pretty much the same thing every year and then usually end up making a deal. Two years ago it was trading Eddie House for Nate Robinson, and last year was the deal that sent Kendrick Perkins to Oklahoma City.

• You might be wondering what gives with Mickael Pietrus? He has gone two straight games without a basket (0-for-3 in 29 minutes) and is just 2-of-13 in his last three games. "I think I am rushing my shot too much," he said. "I need to relax, take it easy, let the game come to me. I am not worried about that. I need to do other things to help the team win. I am focused on rebounding."

Pietrus can make 3s. He knocked down eight of them against the Raptors in a game last season. He's shooting 34 percent from 3-point range this season.

"I know I am going to be shooting 38 to 40 percent but sometimes you have to work through things," he said. "I am just waiting for my time to come. It will come."

• Rookie E'Twaun Moore has been finding himself on the inactive list lately (five of the last six games), but Rivers said he was disinclined to send Moore to the D-League to get more playing time.

"This is not a D-League season," the coach said, referring to the need to keep bodies around in case of injuries. "You've gotta keep everyone around. They might play. Heck, they might even start. You never know."

If Moore never does another thing this season, he will still be remembered for his 16-point outburst against Orlando on Jan. 26, when the Celtics rallied from a 27-point deficit to stun the Magic 91-83.

Longtime Celtics writer Peter May is a frequent contributor to ESPNBoston.com.

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Peter May

Celtics reporter, ESPNBoston.com

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• Covers Celtics for ESPNBoston.com
• Author of several Celtics books