Here's what finishing second in East means for Celtics in postseason

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By blowing out the Memphis Grizzlies in their season finale, the Boston Celtics have clinched the No. 2 seed in the Eastern Conference.

However, the C's won't know who their opponent will be until the NBA play-in tournament begins for teams that finished between seventh and 10th in their respective conferences.

NBA Play-In Tournament: How to watch, matchups, schedule

The Celtics (51-31) won't have to wait too much longer for their opponent to be determined, as they'll automatically face the winner of Tuesday's matchup between the seventh and eighth-place finishers in the Eastern Conference: the Brooklyn Nets or the Cleveland Cavaliers.

The Nets and Cavaliers finished with identical 44-38 records, but Brooklyn likely presents a much greater challenge for the Celtics given their pair of superstars in Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving.

Boston won three of four regular season meetings against the Nets, though only one matchup truly represented what a playoff series between the teams could look like. The good news for the Celtics is that matchup was a win, 126-120, over Brooklyn on March 6 at TD Garden with both Durant and Irving in the Nets' lineup.

Irving was inactive for the other three meetings and Durant played in only one other game -- alongside James Harden, who has since been traded to the Philadelphia 76ers in a deal that brought Ben Simmons to Brooklyn.

The potential return of Simmons could add yet another wrinkle to the series, as he hasn't appeared in a game for the Nets since the trade on Feb. 10. He's already been ruled out for the play-in tournament, but ESPN's Adrian Wojnarowski reported Sunday there's "optimism" the former No. 1 overall pick in the 2016 NBA Draft could make his Brooklyn debut in the conference quarterfinals.

The Nets knocked the Celtics out of the postseason last year, eliminating Boston in five games in the first round.

Boston is 2-1 in the regular season against the Cavs, though the teams haven't played since Dec. 22. The Celtics earned a split in a de facto two-game series in Cleveland in mid-November, dropping a 91-89 decision on Nov. 13 before winning two nights later, 98-92. Boston won the lone home matchup of the season, 111-101, just before Christmas.

The Celtics were eliminated by the Cavaliers in the postseason three times between 2015 and 2018, including back-to-back seasons in the Eastern Conference finals in '17 and '18, but to state the obvious, that was a much different Cleveland team featuring LeBron James.

The C's will have homecourt advantage regardless of opponent, with Game 1 in Boston to take place Sunday, April 17 (time TBD).

Boston earned its highest finish in the Eastern Conference since the 2017-18 season, when it also drew the No. 2 seed.

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