Depending on how things shake out in the final games of the regular season, there's a realistic chance that the Boston Celtics get matched up with the Toronto Raptors in the first round of the NBA playoffs. If that happens, they may be looking at a huge disadvantage before the series even begins.

Because of public health mandates in Canada, unvaccinated NBA players are not allowed to play in Toronto for potential road games. While there are a few teams with fully vaccinated rosters or simply have fringe rotation players falling into that category, Boston may be affected much more than others.

According to NBA insider Chris Mannix, the Celtics may be looking at a potential Raptors series without All-Star Jaylen Brown and veteran center Al Horford.

“The Celtics have some unvaccinated guys. My understanding is Jaylen Brown is unvaccinated, Al Horford is unvaccinated. Now that can still change, there's still enough time left in the season where if they decide to get the vaccine, they will be eligible to play in a postseason game in Toronto. The Celtics are not the Celtics without Jaylen Brown or Al Horford. I'm certain they don't want to go up to Toronto in that situation.”

The reality facing the Celtics isn't one that affects just them, though. The Brooklyn Nets would lose Kyrie Irving for road games against Toronto, although the chances they meet do seem rather low. Other teams likely also have a couple of players who would sit out.

“I don't know the vaccination status of every team that's out there, but I'm sure a number of those remaining teams have at least one guy in their rotation that might not be eligible to play. Kyrie of course, that's a problem if he's got to go to Toronto at some point. That's kind of like the dirty little secret in all this.”

But given that a loss to the Memphis Grizzlies in their final game could very likely drop the Celtics to a 4-5 matchup with the Raptors, the prospect of being down two of their stars looms large over the Celtics. The Philadelphia 76ers, who currently sit at 4th place, are just a half game back of the Celtics with two very winnable games against the Detroit Pistons and Indiana Pacers remaining on their regular season slate.

Obviously, losing two of your best players for road games stings no matter the circumstances. But with the recent injury to Robert Williams dealing a blow to their frontcourt at the center spot, losing Al Horford too could seriously curtail the defensive identity that the Celtics have built ever since the turn of the calendar year. While they'll still have Defensive Player of the Year frontrunner Marcus Smart wreaking havoc on the perimeter, losing not one, but two of defensive backstops may not be something they can survive.

This goes especially for a team like the Toronto Raptors, whose length and size have caused problems for their opponents all season. That's how they've often been able to punch above their weight class, if not shift up entirely. Couple that with the hostile environment in Toronto in a playoff atmosphere and that's a scenario the Celtics surely would want to avoid.