To Be Or Not To Be (Asleep For Each First Round Playoff Series)

Mar 13, 2017; Salt Lake City, UT, USA; Utah Jazz forward Gordon Hayward (20) defends against LA Clippers forward Blake Griffin (32) during the fourth quarter at Vivint Smart Home Arena. Utah Jazz won the game 114-108. Mandatory Credit: Chris Nicoll-USA TODAY Sports
Mar 13, 2017; Salt Lake City, UT, USA; Utah Jazz forward Gordon Hayward (20) defends against LA Clippers forward Blake Griffin (32) during the fourth quarter at Vivint Smart Home Arena. Utah Jazz won the game 114-108. Mandatory Credit: Chris Nicoll-USA TODAY Sports
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Mar 12, 2017; Boston, MA, USA; Chicago Bulls forward Jimmy Butler (21) goes to the basket past Boston Celtics forward Amir Johnson (90) during the first half of the Boston Celtics 100-80 win over the Chicago Bulls at TD Garden. Mandatory Credit: Winslow Townson-USA TODAY Sports
Mar 12, 2017; Boston, MA, USA; Chicago Bulls forward Jimmy Butler (21) goes to the basket past Boston Celtics forward Amir Johnson (90) during the first half of the Boston Celtics 100-80 win over the Chicago Bulls at TD Garden. Mandatory Credit: Winslow Townson-USA TODAY Sports

Boston Celtics (1) vs. Chicago Bulls (8) – Leave The Bar Early To Catch The Second Half 

You may not have heard, but Jimmy Butler was involved in a few trade rumors the past two years.

Blowing right past that, his team is terrible and Boston is unproven. They have gotten consistently better over the years with their young core, but still haven’t won a playoff game since trading Paul Pierce and Kevin Garnett.

Maybe they missed the boat not going all in on a trade for Butler. Or maybe they didn’t. This series won’t be able to fully answer this question for Boston, since Chicago is such a collection of misfits toys, but it should at least begin the process in earnest.

The Celtics have high expectations, and the dominance (or lack thereof) they display in this series will have a great effect on the perception of their (likely) second round series with Washington.