The Boston Celtics and Washington Wizards will face off in what it sure to be a viciously fought Game 7 on Monday (8 p.m. ET, TNT). Neither team has lost at home, and we’ve had two epic games out of the six played so far.
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There have been a number of star turns — from mighty Isaiah Thomas to Al Horford to John Wall to Bradley Beal. The coaching has been on point and the drama has been elevated. It’s been a really good series, the best in the Eastern Conference (and maybe the league) to date this spring. And it’s going to Game 7. You couldn’t ask for more.
The only problem is that Game 7 doesn’t really matter in the grand scheme of the NBA.
The Cleveland Cavaliers’ dominance has ruined the external stakes for the Celtics-Wizards series finale. Cleveland is 8-0 in the playoffs. The team’s star, LeBron James, one of the three best players of all time, has been to the NBA Finals six straight times. He has the Cavaliers clicking on all levels and fully rested.
The Celtics and Wizards are not rested ... at all. The Eastern Conference Finals start Wednesday. Cleveland last played on May 7. The winner of Celtics-Wizards will have played three additional games — with travel between each contest — while the Cavaliers were chilling. At least Boston would be able to stay home between now and Wednesday if they win. If the Wizards win, it’s another flight to hop.
Cleveland will be overwhelming favorites in the next round. The gap between the Cavaliers and the rest of the East — one we thought had closed after a listless finish to the regular season for Cleveland — is so huge that no one expects the Celtics or Wizards to beat them.
Because of low expectations, we have low stakes. If no one expects the challenger to compete, it’s not a huge deal when the challenger can’t compete. That’s what makes for a postseason fans call boring, as has been the case this spring.
So, the external stakes for Game 7 are not significant: The winner becomes a veritable sacrificial lamb at the altar of LeBron.
The internal stakes, however, are massive.
Even if the Celtics or Wizards don’t win another game this postseason, winning Game 7 will validate their seasons, their rosters, and their futures. Advancing to the conference finals would be a high-water mark for both teams under their current forms.
Boston last made the conference finals with Doc Rivers, Kevin Garnett, Paul Pierce, and Rajon Rondo. Washington last made the conference finals in the Carter (Jimmy, not Vince) administration.
Winning Game 7 would validate Brad Stevens’ reputation, Isaiah Thomas’ stardom, Al Horford’s contract, and Danny Ainge’s patience. Winning Game 7 would convince the Wizards brain trust that John Wall, Bradley Beal, and Otto Porter are the core of a championship contender, and that with the right additions and luck, fans could fill the streets of D.C. to watch a championship parade.
Boston had a strong season, winning the No. 1 seed. They won four straight to eject the Bulls, and they have matched the Wizards shot for shot. Washington was positively resurgent this season, not just making the playoffs but earning a round of home court and taking the No. 1 seed to the brink, if not over it. One game shouldn’t be able to shape narratives the way Game 7 will, but that’s how sports works.
Consider Game 7 of the 2016 NBA Finals. It was the game that convinced all but the most obtuse observers that LeBron is an all-timer, the game that denied a dynasty (if for a moment), the game that made lions out of Kevin Love and Kyrie Irving.
The narratives in this Game 7 are far more localized. They will be fought on radio airwaves in two East Coast metropolises instead of across the world. This is a huge Game 7 for fans of the two teams involved and hardcore NBA connoisseurs. For the casual fan or partisan of another team? Maybe not.
The fact that this game will have little bearing on the season writ large has no bearing on how seriously both teams will take it, on how hot their fans will run, on how gripping we who love basketball will find it.
There is more to the NBA than its championships and more to fandom than binary results. What could be more appropriate, in fact, than for basketball lovers to gather around a game that doesn’t really matter and act like the fate of the world rests on its result? This is sports in a coda: something that doesn’t matter at all and means everything at all once. That’s this Game 7 in a nutshell.
