Now that we know the C's are hosting a first-round series, let's figure out who's playing who and who we'd like the Celtics to play. And yes, for the record, I know the Western Conference champ will win it all. I don't care. If the season ended now, the matchups would look like this:

1/8. New Jersey vs. Toronto.

4/5. Orlando vs. Philadelphia.

2/7. Detroit vs. Milwaukee.

3/6. Boston vs. Charlotte.

I have to admit, I like the Celtics/Hornets matchup better than Philly. Ideally, the Raptors will pass Milwaukee, putting the Sixers and Bucks over in the Nets' half of the bracket. I think the Celtics can take Charlotte and take their chances against the winner of the Det/Tor matchup. Looking at the schedules, the Pistons are likely to go 2-2 the rest of the way (wins at Chicago and vs. Milwaukee, losses vs. the Spurs and at Jersey), and the Celts should (should) go 2-1, beating NY and Atlanta but not on the road in Minnesota. So it would take some doing to get the better record and the second-round home-court.

But in the long run, the Celtics can beat anyone (see: 2-0 vs. Lakers) or lose to anyone (see: 0-2 in Chicago). So we'll have to crank up the cliche-o-matic and take it one game at a time. I remember when I would have been happy with the 8-spot. I think that was 3 weeks ago.