Celtics Advance To Second Round Of Playoffs

An 0-2 start to their first round playoff match up with the eighth seeded Chicago Bulls had both the Boston Celtics and their fans a bit worried about the team's lofty postseason hopes.

An injury to Chicago's on-floor general and former Celtic, Rajon Rondo, and four wins (3 on the road) later, however, have the C's sliding into the second round for the first time under head coach Brad Stevens.

Boston capped off the 4-2 series win with a convincing 105-83 road victory, Friday night. Now the C's are set to host the Washington Wizards, who also won their opening round series in six games as they knocked off the Atlanta Hawks.

To get past Washington, the C's will have to ride the momentum that carried them through the last four games, while also doing a better job of rebounding and protecting the rim.

I'm still not sold on Boston, especially since the Bulls looked so sharp with Rondo on the court and really just defeated themselves by self-imploding when he was lost to injury. If the C's play weak on the boards and down low against the Wizards, who are flat out better than Chicago, it could be a painful ending in Beantown.

Of course, if guys like Al Horford, Jae Crowder, Kelly Olynyk, Marcus Smart and Gerald Green can continue to add both scoring and overall defense to the mix, the C's could be headed to the conference finals.