We all know that the playoffs are different animal from the regular season. The competition is more intense, a team's weaknesses are exposed and rotations get shortened from 12-15 players involved in a given game to 8-10 in the post-season. Playoffs are for veterans and proven youngsters.
Two veterans, Kyrie Irving and Gordon Hayward, are out of consideration, with Gordon having the slightest of chances of returning very late in the post-season. One proven rookie, Daniel Theis, is also out of action. All three are listed on the 15-man playoff roster because Boston simply didn't have enough healthy bodies to fill it.