With thirteen games remaining in the regular season, the Celtics find themselves in seventh place in the Eastern Conference. Boston's record is 36-33, two games better than the Milwaukee Bucks.  The Celtics, who are 4-6 in their last 10 games, including four straight losses, have incentive to remain the seventh seed. 

If Boston can keep its two-game lead over the Bucks for the final weeks of the season, they will successfully avoid playing the Miami Heat until the Eastern Conference Finals, should they make it that far. As a Celtics fan I want the team to win every game, but there is no arguing with the benefit of staying at seven in the East. If nothing major changes in the conference, the seventh seed is clearly the most desirable landing spot for the Celtics.  My issue isn't with the moral dilemma of purposefully losing games. I have no issue with fans paying money to see a team play, only to have the stars and starters riding the pine with mock injuries.  Sign me up for the Celtics pulling a semi-tanking campaign!   A true fan should have the team's long-term goals in mind, even if it means paying $90 to watch Shavlik Randolph get his shot blocked by someone's armpit.  None of these issues cause a problem for this particular Celtics homer.  My gripe is with how easy fans, media, and most shockingly, the team thinks it will be to pull off!

People seem to think a two game lead is an insurmountable one for Milwaukee, even after four straight losses for the Celtics. Today Danny Ainge announced that Kevin Garnett would be going on the shelf for two weeks with "inflammation" in his injured ankle.  Ainge seemed to downplay the severity of Garnett's injury, but reiterated the team's stance that they would be extremely cautious and slow in bringing him back.  Doc Rivers echoed the sentiment as well. Clearly management and the coach feel that they are in control of their destiny. 

Apparently they aren't watching the same team I have been over the last few weeks. While the Celtics have shown great heart and toughness in wins over the Clippers, Nuggets, Bulls, and Pacers, they've also shown the lack of focus in hiccups against the Cavaliers, the Bobcats (twice), the Pistons, and the Hornets.  The Celtics have six of their last thirteen games against playoff teams, and six games on the road, where they have been terrible.  The Celtics also have four back-to-backs remaining.  That's four times that the Celtics have to take the floor for the second straight day.  Relying on Paul Pierce and Jason Terry, battling through their osteoporosis flare ups for two straight nights, to knock down shots late in the game is not a proposition that gives me the warm and fuzzies. Especially when on the other end of the floor there will be no Garnett to bail them out as they creakily chase the opposition to the rim.

The Bucks have seven games against playoff teams, but three of those are in the last week of the season, where teams could be rolling over. The Celtics face only two of their six playoff teams in that light, final week. Two weeks from today without Garnett would have, the Celtics playing eight games without their center and defensive anchor.  If Boston can go .500 over that stretch they should consider themselves lucky.  If they can go 3-2 in the next five, three of which are on the road and three against playoff teams, they will be in good shape.  The next four games that follow will be on the road, and if their lead is still two at that point the rest of the season should be academic.  If they struggle in the early stretch without KG, and find themselves sitting in the eighth seed, having to go full bore in the final week to escape the 8th seed could have lasting effects on their playoff hopes. 

KG's defensive impact is obviously immense, but I believe his effect on the offense is not being respected enough. Without Rondo running the offense and getting the.  Celtics open shots, easy looks at the basket have been difficult to come by.  I may be the only person on the planet who think that the Celtics are worse off without Rondo, but nobody can argue that the Celtics get easy shots without their best point guard. With the exception of one play, the offense has turned into three plays: Paul Pierce's running audition for Superman, Jeff Green's sporadic Ironman audition, and five guys playing hot potato around the perimeter until five seconds on the shot clock. 

The one play that has been a constant is a pick-and-pop with Garnett, and the Celtics can run it with almost every player on the floor handling the ball.  Lee, Green, Bradley, Pierce, Terry, Williams, and Crawford are all extremely comfortable with this play. No matter how consistent KG has become with his jumper, centers still refuse to chase him that far out of the paint to defend it.  The long two-pointer may be the least efficient shot in basketball, but nobody told KG.  When the Celtics go through their offensive swoons, a timeout from Doc Rivers is more often than not followed up by an open jumper from KG.  The warm, cozy comfort of that play will be taking two weeks for inflammation also.  Bass is a so-so replacement in this set.  If operated perfectly, he can knock down the jumper, but if the timing is off just a hair, the play fails.  Bass is a shaky passer at best, and he has some of the worst hands I've seen on a basketball court.  You'd have more success throwing a bounce pass in the lane to a tyrannosaurus rex.  There just is no replacing what Garnett brings to the team on both ends.  Hopefully, Boston can stay afloat with the loss of their best defensive and offensive players.

Tomorrow night the Celtics take on the Knicks at home without their All-Star center. It will be their first step to securing their coveted playoff spot. But with the Bucks in hot pursuit, I don't feel as good as everyone else does with the Celtics sitting uncomfortably in seventh place.

 

@Celts_GreenRoom

On Christmas Day, the real Boston Celtics made their first appearance of the 2012-13 season.

This time of year it is always nice to receive gifts, even late ones.  Celtics fans finally got what they had on their list when Boston beat down Brooklyn at the Barclay's Center.  The 93-76 victory was the best win of the season for the Celtics, eclipsing the win over the Thunder in November.  While the Thunder are definitely a better team than the Nets, the Celtics beat OKC at home, and also gave up 100 points in that win.  On Tuesday, Boston held the Nets to just over 40% shooting, allowing a season-low 76 points and causing 20 turnovers.  They grabbed more boards, scored more in the paint, and had more bench points than the opposition.  Three categories that they are regularly outgained in. 

The Jeff Green Roller Coaster was back on the upswing, as he tallied 15 points in 28 minutes.  Green has come under fire lately (again) and responded with another solid performance off of the bench.  Matched with Green's output, Jared Sullinger dropped 16 points and seven rebounds to spark the bench scoring.  Sullinger's near 33 minutes of floor time was his highest of the season, which may be a sign of an increased role in the rotation as a back-up to new starting center Jason Collins. 

Speaking of Collins, the Celtics' offensively challenged big man rose up in the third quarter and threw down a ferocious dunk over (ok, near) Nets' center Brook Lopez.  I'm fairly certain a microburst occured under Collins' feet, propelling him toward the rim, but I haven't been able to find any visual evidence.  Collins immediately commited a foul on the next play to reassure everyone that all was right with the world, and the Mayans weren't just four days off

Thank heavens Rondo gets paid to play ball and not for his fashion sense.

Extreme weather incidents aside, this was a must win for the Celtics' confidence. Another loss to the Nets would have been a huge blow to Boston's psyche.  They are a better team than the Nets, and after two embarassing losses, where Brooklyn pushed them around, Boston re-established themselves as second-best team in the Atlantic Division (for now.) The Nets continued their chipppy, dirty play, but cooler heads prevailed for the Celtics, and they never let Brooklyn get within striking distance, blowing them out in the fourth quarter.

Boston won't get much time to bask in the greatness of this win, as they continue on the road for a brutal, three-games-in-four-nights stretch starting with the NBA's best team, the Clippers, on Thursday night.  If the Celtics can build on the performance in Brooklyn, win two of three games left on the trip they will have strong momentum heading into 2013.  A poor West Coast swing, and the Celtics will have to continue to dig out of .500, and remain at the bottom of the Eastern Conference playoff picture.  Here's hoping that more than just one win, the Celtics unwrapped consistency on Christmas morning.

REAL TALK:  Real quotes from real people...

"I don't know where in American you can jack somebody's pants off." -Kevin Garnett

KG was explaining the dustup with Gerald Wallace, and gave this classic line.  A possible glimpse into an ant pant-jacking platform for his eventual Presidential run in 2016. 

"When you watch him...you see a big fat guy playing basketball. He's terrific." -Doc Rivers

Doc was complimenting Celtics rookie Jared Sullinger during these comments, I'm quite sure.  Doc seems to like the kid, unlike previous Celtic fatties Glenn Davis and Rasheed Wallace.  Hopefully this reference to Sully's soggy midsection doesn't lead to on bench bellyaching and hotel room spaghetti binging like it did for Big Baby. 

"I just don't like the original, it's time to change it up." -Rajon Rondo

If old school Celtics fans didn't like Rondo's attitude, or style before the Christmas game against the Nets, they definitely won't be buying his jersey soon thereafter. Rondo was in a blasphemic mood when commenting on the Celtics jerseys, stating that he likes the green-on-green alternate jerseys better than Boston's classic, 17 Championship winning, green and white.  Rondo is one of my favorite players of all time, but I'm not taking fashion advice from a guy who dresses like Prince imitating Mugatu. 

 

@Celts_GreenRoom

 

e-mail me here.

Here are 25 thoughts on the first 25 games of the season..

1. For all of those people out there saying that the Celtics (13-12) are done, a less-talented version of the team was 14-11 after 25 games last season and ended up pulling it together for another run. 
   
2. Think last season was different?  The 2011-12 team and this season's team were an identical 5-9 against teams with that were .500 and over after 25 games.  (The 2011-12 number is based off of final standings, not records of the teams at the time they played, which I used for this season.)
3. The Celtics longest win streak this season is three wins, which they've accomplished only once.
4. After 25 games last season the Celtics had already had two four game win streaks, and a five-game win streak under their belts. 
5. The victory over the Thunder, the NBA's best team in my opinion, was hands down the Celtics strongest win of the season. 
6. The loss to the Nets on Nov. 28th was the team's worst loss.  The team lost the game and their point guard for two more.  Beyond that, they lost any mental edge that they had over a Nets team looking for signature wins since moving to Brooklyn. 
7. Rajon Rondo, who was ejected from the game after pushing Nets forward, Kris Humphries, had his double-digit assist streak ended in the loss to Brooklyn. 
8. A week later, against Minnesota, Rondo's streak of getting thrown out of games for fighting reality televisions ended at one. 
9. On December, 15th Rondo dished out nine assists.  It was the first time all season that he tallied less than 10 assists when he was eligible to play the full game.
10. Rondo has yet to reach 10 assists in three straight games. 
11. Jeff Green doesn't have a bandwagon, he has a roller coaster.  I'm the conductor.  Plenty of good seats still available! All aboard!
    
12. This has been a strange season so far.  It's seems obvious that the Celtics need a big man, and are actively looking to add one.  But last year, mired in identical mediocrity, it was the move to put KG at the center and go small that sent Boston off and running. 
    
13. Speaking of big men. The two on my Christmas list, and every other Celtics fan's no doubt, are Andy Varejao and Marcin Gortat. 
    
14. The price to acquire either one of these players seems to be far too high for the Celtics, making this a pipe dream at best.  In the offseason I wanted Courtney Lee or Jason Terry, but thought the Celtics would land neither. They ended up with both.
    
15. The worst moment of the season for me was when Joe Johnson's crossover nearly killed Paul Pierce.  It was worse than finding out Santa wasn't real.  It was like watching somebody beat up your father.  
    
16. The best moment of the season was watching Paul Pierce's near-perfect night against the Cleveland Cavaliers.  Pierce dropped 40 points on 16 shots and drilled six threes. He hit all eight free throws, grabbed eight boards, dropped five dimes, and had two steals and a block. It was a virtuoso performance and one that the Celtics, and Pierce, sorely needed. 
    
17. Many people questioned the contract that Danny Ainge signed Kevin Garnett to in the offseason. Can you imagine if they didn't sign him? 
    
18. I predicted that Rajon Rondo would come in second in the league in the MVP voting, but to this point he isn't even the MVP on the Celtics.  Kevin Garnett has reinforced the fact that he is, and always has been, the single most important part of the Celtics team since his arrival in Boston. 
    
19. People love to harp on Jeff Green, but I believe Brandon Bass has been more disappointing this season.  I wouldn't hesitate to include Bass in a trade, or miss him much when he was gone.  Nice guy and a decent player, but he is one of the least dynamic players in the league. He can shoot mid-range jump shots and he can go baseline for a dunk. He doesn't pass well, dribble well, rebound, defend the pick-and-roll, or move without the ball.  
20. Bass and Garnett don't make sense on the court together.  Neither wants post up near the basket, and their sweet spots are in similar areas.  I want KG taking the mid-range shots rather than Bass.
    
21. Moving Bass would get Jeff Green more minutes with the starters, and I think Green's effectiveness increases with more minutes rather than less minutes.
    
22. I stated before that Rajon Rondo wasn't the MVP of the team, Garnett is.  That will change if Rondo wants it to.  Rondo has been flat out lazy on defense most of the year, and it has killed the Celtics. If the Celtics get a big man to clog the middle, and when Avery Bradley can come back and play the other team's best guard, Rondo should be able to have more energy on defense.
23. First it was hip to say Avery Bradley would be the team's savior. Now it is hip to say that Bradley can't fix what ails the Celtics.  There is no question that if Bradley returns to the player he was last year, the Celtics will be much better on both ends, but more so on defense.  The bench gets better because Terry moves off the starting lineup and the starting unit becomes faster and better defensively.
    
24. I think the next 25 games will be a lot better for the Celtics.  I expect a minor trade sooner rather than later, and Bradley's return will help. The Celtics have played their worst basketball of the season and are still above .500 and hold the eighth seed.
    
25. Hang in there, Celtics fans.  This team will be in the mix at the end of the year.  A record of 13-12 is not the end of the world, even the Mayans could tell you that.
    

@Celts_Green Room

Rajon Rondo was suspended by the league for two games following a scuffle with Brooklyn Nets forward, Kris Humphries on Wednesday night.  After a fierce shoving match, Rondo, Humphries, and the Nets' Gerald Wallace were ejected from the game, but Brooklyn continued their dominance over Boston and ended up blowing the Celtics out of the Garden.

Reactions from fans and media varied after the game.  Rondo detractors (re)labeled him a punk.  Others took the scrap as a symbol of Rondo's immaturity and condemned the Celtics point guard's ability to lead a team that has already handed him the keys.  Some local radio hosts even believe that the franchise is headed for trouble if Rondo remains the leader of the team.

All of that is a little heavy-handed for the Green Room.  Claiming that Rajon Rondo isn't a leader isn't just wrong, it's ridiculous.  He literally is the leader of the team.  He brings up the ball, runs the offense, and actually calls the plays.  Rondo isn't simply the fluffy, overrated type of "leader" that media types and radio hosts love to anoint and tear down. He is the actual person on the floor that the players follow.  Do you think that the veterans on the team will no longer listen to Rondo on offense because he got into a shoving match with Kris Humphries?  If anything, they may only be upset that Rondo got to him first.  Do you think that the young players on the team will run around the court pushing and punching other players, willy-nilly, just because Rondo got in a fight? That's crazy. 

Back away, you guys, his groin is aflame!

The other end of the spectrum is equally misguided.  Painting the incident against the Nets as some heroic act of brotherhood, or even an emotional reaction to watching a friend get hit with a cheap shot, is exaggerating what actually happened.  Glorifying Rondo's actions distorts the true context of the moment. 

Rajon Rondo was having a frustrating game Wednesday night. He turned the ball over a couple of times, wasn't getting to the free throw line and the Nets were killing the Celtics.  Brooklyn wasn't just beating Boston, they were man-handling them.  They pushed the Celtics around, did whatever they wanted on offense, and ran over any Celtics in their way to do it. The Nets play hard, and a lot of times, they play dirty.  All of these factors played into Rondo's reaction.  The foul on Garnett barely qualifies for a hard foul, even in the Downy soft NBA of today.  Garnett is bigger than Humphries, wasn't blindsided, and wasn't injured on the play.  After seeing the play, if you claim that Rondo's reaction was born out of concern for a teammate you are manipulating the context of the event. 

Hell, if we're going to do that, let me update you on a few plays the way I saw them.

Ndamukong Suh kicked Matt Schaub in the crotch on purpose, that was plain to see.  But the way I saw it, Schaub's crotch had spontaneously burst into flames, and Suh was trying to kick out the blaze.  He should be celebrated as a hero! 

Ron Artest's melee in the crowd at a Detroit Pistons game in 2004 is considered one of the worst moments in NBA history.  But after taking another look at the tape, I'm pretty sure a swarm of killer bees was attacking people in the crowd, and Artest just ran in to punch bugs off of fans' faces.   They should be called the Michigan Miracle and not the Malice at the Palace. Why do you think he changed his name to Metta Whack Bees?

The bees have been vanquished. You're welcome, Detroit.

In 1979, Boston Bruins tough guy Terry O'Reilly and a group of other players jumped into the stands at Madison Square Garden and started pummeling fans. If you take a look at the video below, though, the fans in question are clearly choking on food, and the Bruins snapped into action in the nick of time to jar loose the object blocking their wind pipes.  If you look close enough, Al Secord even employs the standard CPR maneuver of the time; two strong breaths followed by two beatings with a Wingtip. 

So maybe Celtics fans aren't this ridiculous in their defense of Rondo, but you get the picture.  When you bend the truth to make it appear that what Rondo did was more valiant than it was, it empowers the people that want to paint him as a coddled punk and all Celtics fans as blind apologists. It also masks the fact that, regardless of his intent, Rondo's shoving match with Humphries wasn't that big of a deal.

I think Rondo was frustrated with himself as well as with his team, and wanted break up the Nets' momentum and fire up his team by getting a technical.  Maybe he even just wanted to give Doc an excuse to sit him down.  I believe Rondo thought he would give a shove to Humphries and Humphries would back away or flop to get the official to call a technical. That or Rondo expected to get a soft shove back and allow everyone to break it up. Humphries, to his credit, didn't back down. He pulled Rondo with him and at that point neither one was going to back away.  A relatively young, emotional player made a stupid decision that got a little out of control in a regular season game in November.  It's not the end of the world. 

No matter what the pundits, fans, or anyone else believes goes through Rajon Rondo's head won't change how he acts.  All you can do is hope that the stuff in that head that makes Rondo a genius on the court outweighs the stuff that has him smashing video monitors, bumping referees, and tackling reality television stars.  Personally, I'll trade two-game suspensions in November for triple-doubles in June every year. 

@Celts_GreenRoom

e-mail me here.

WRITER's NOTE: Apologies to ESPN's Chris Forsberg, who wrote this terrific piece on this dunk early this morning.  I had not yet read his work when I began this post. 

Jeff Green gave us one of the greatest in-game dunks in NBA History last night against the Utah Jazz.  You may think I'm overstating this, but I don't. Take a look for yourself (video embedded below).

Like any great dunk it came at the expense of another player, bonus points for it being a well-known NBA name.  A lot of so-so dunks are given the title of "posterization," but rarely do the term justice.  Either a player was randomly standing under the hoop, or came over after the dunk was already halfway down, or the player is so insignificant that it almost doesn't matter.  This one was pure pinup.  It was fast and ferocious and full of hate and love and fear.  It shattered one man's pride and the other's self-fulfilled preconceived notions.  But in offices, and schools, and text messages around the greater Boston area this morning it was referred to only as "The Dunk."

After Jeff dunked on the entire Jazz organization, Utah is now a registered Green state.

The play that gave us "The Dunk" started ordinarily enough. The Celtics, with Rondo injured and on the bench, looked to feed the ball inside to Garnett. After making a spin move into the lane, feeling the extra defenders, KG kicked the ball to the corner, where an open Jeff Green was waiting. KG's pass came off a little soft and Jazz forward Paul Millsap, who had rotated down to help, had time to rush out to Green. Green sensed Millsap's over rotation and didn't even fake the corner jump shot, opting rather to head straight to the basket past the moving defender.

SIDE NOTE 1: The Jazz are a relatively young team that may not be yet ready to contend, but one area where they have a surplus is big men.  At this time in the game, Derrick Favors, Paul Millsap, and former Celtics Al Jefferson were all playing in the front court at the same time.  Which is good, because thanks to Jeff Green, Jazz fans can have a poster with all three of them on it! 

As he breezed past Millsap the lane opened up briefly for Green, but soon Al Jefferson rotated to protect the rim.  Anyone who has watched Green this year has seen a number of results from similar plays. Jeff has had some strong dunks this year, an outstretched one-handed effort from the preseason comes to mind, but he has also remained his timid self in these situations, pulling the ball back and pump-faking to try and get a foul, or slowing down and lofting a soft runner.  The play usually ends with Green softly hitting the floor with the benefit of neither the rim or the call. This time, though, Green kicked it into another gear and took flight, eyes squared on the rim and unleashed a thunderous dunk over Al Jefferson.  Big Al actually jumps to block the shot, but gives up about half way up and turns away from the carnage.  After the flush Jefferson literally buckles under the sheer force of the dunk.  If you watch he actually has to be held up by Derrick Favors, who wears a slight smile of relief that Green is righty and wasn't on his side of the court.  Big Al, classy as ever, offers Green a tap on the chest as if to say, "Nice dunk, kid" or "Thanks for not literally inserting the ball into my mouth" or maybe he just wanted to touch something to make sure this wasn't just a horrible nightmare that he was trapped in. 

SIDE NOTE 2: If you watch the video as Green goes by Millsap, an injured Rajon Rondo hops out of his seat on the bench as if he already knew what was coming, maybe even before Jeff Green knew.  After Green's loud finish Rondo did a one-legged, James Brown shuffle and screamed to the crowd (I like to think he screamed "Heyyyyyyy" or "Hit Mey!" but have yet to confirm).  Hands down one of the best moments from this dunk and part of why it is not just a typical NBA posterization. 

While Jefferson handled being embarrassed in front of thousands of witnesses as well as one could, Green did the customary "chest out pause-n-stare before jogging back on defense" move.  Certainly not in the top 50 egregious taunts after a big dunk, but probably deserving of a technical in today's NBA.  When Green saw that he was given a technical foul he only half-heartedly argued, muttering a "for what?" to the ref, who presumably responded with, "for trying to murder the other team's front court."  The thing about the technical though, is that it made the dunk that more legendary!  When the whistle blew, the stop in the action allowed Green to be surrounded by Courtney Lee, Leandro Barbosa, and Kevin Garnett, and a frantic conversation that probably went like this:

Courtney Lee: "That's what I'm talking about."

Jeff Green: (nod)

Leandro Barbosa (in his Brazilian accent): "Too sexy, too sexy." 

Kevin Garnett: "That's how you @#$% &%*$* and %&&$ing &%$& every %&$&ing time."

Jeff Green: (blink)

Courtney Lee: "Yeah"

KG: "#$$hole"

Barbosa: "Too Sexy"

Green: (blink)

(Jared Sullinger was the fifth Celtics on the floor at that time, but didn't want to stay in one spot for any length of time for fear he'd be called for 3-seconds.)

The Celtics bench was on their feet at this point and the crowd was still cheering, waiting for the replay and booing the officials, somehow simultaneously.  The delay in the game gave additional time for the true appreciation of what had actually occurred.  People in their homes and at the Garden had time to get back to their televisions and watch the multiple angles and replays.  When Mo Williams missed the free throw, the crowd erupted again, which made the play even more perfect.  Can you imagine if this dunk happened in Utah?  It wouldn't be nearly as great or as memorable without the moment being able to crest to its peak before play resumed.

Doc Rivers has a rule against fourth quarter technical fouls, but he's going to need to make a change. The First Amendment: We are okay with fourth quarter technical fouls if they come during an attempt to literally dunk a ball through an opposing player's face.

SIDE NOTE 3: These glimpses of raw aggression are somewhat out of character for Green, but every now and then he pulls them out. Those flashes of anger are what fuels ardent Green supporters such as myself.  Green's game is sweet and smooth and fluid, but sometimes you've got to be salty, especially on this team. When Green taps into that part of his game the results are powerful.

The play didn't change the game itself. Although it gave the Celtics energy to finish strong, the Jazz were not crushed by the momentum, later bringing the game within two points before the Celtics held them off for the win.

The play was important beyond the context of the game.  While it was a four point game in the fourth quarter, the play's impact will hopefully felt for months, and years ahead.  Jeff Green's struggles in the early going this year have been well documented, but the problems were deeper than somebody missing shots.  Fans, players, and the media were questions Green's confidence; his ability and willingness to maximize and utilize his abundant wealth of talent.  Kevin Garnett famously urged Jeff to play like an {expletive deleted}.  Garnett was looking for an a-hole and may have ended up with an axe-murderer.  If he continues killing opposing teams off the bench, there is no telling how far the Celtics can go this year.  If Green reverts back to his passive former self, the Celtics will not make it out of the Eastern Conference. It is as simple as that.  That is another reason that this dunk, this moment in Green's career, may be so critical.  This kind of attention, the positive reinforcement of his aggression being recognized on a national level, may finally change his mentality as a player.  If he likes this taste of blood, hopefully Green will become a serial killer. If so we will always have YouTube to go back and replay the scene of his first crime, over and over again. 

Whether or not "The Dunk" will have the desired effect on Jeff Green and the Celtics doesn't change the fact that it is one of the best in-game dunks ever. 

@Celts_GreenRoom

e-mail me here.

Monday night in Chicago the rest of the NBA was put on alert. Rajon Rondo is playing like one of the best players in the league, and will have a legitimate shot at winning the MVP this year if he keeps playing like he did against the Bulls. So take note, NBA players. When you play the Boston Celtics, during the 48 minutes you are on the floor, you are living in Rondo's World.

The Celtics point guard put on a dominant performance on Monday night. Rondo scored 20 points on 10-16 shooting, with 10 assists, nine rebounds, and five steals. Rondo barely kept his double-digit streak alive, but could have easily had 17 assists if teammates made some of the open jumpers he got them. (I particularly remember one stretch halfway through the fourth quarter where Kevin Garnett missed four open jump shots.)

Phew! Nate Robinson pulled his hand away just in time to let Rajon Rondo pass for the layup.

Early on in the game, with Bulls reserve and former teammate Nate Robinson guarding him, Rondo went to the rim at will, scoring eight points in the first quarter, three of the buckets coming on layups.  Rondo wasn't in scoring mode for the entire game.  The Celtics clearly were focused on ball movement, and while Rondo controlled the flow of the offense, the Celtics were able to up 33 and 25 points in the first two quarters against arguably the best defense in the league.  With Rondo running the sets the Celtics were making the extra pass which led to open jump shots, and the team field goal percentage hovered around 60% for most of the game. 

Rondo wasn't just dominating the game on the offensive end on Monday.  When the Bulls started making their come back in the second half, Rondo grabbed three of his five steals in the game, keeping Chicago at arm's reach and halting the Bulls' run. 

The Celtics were out-rebounded by the Bulls 40-34, but were it not for Rondo's work on the boards the discrepancy would have been even greater, and may have cost the Celtics the game.  Rondo had team high nine rebounds in the game. No other Celtics had more than six.  All four of the Bulls guards that played in the game combined for nine rebounds.  

In the fourth quarter, when the game became tight Rondo switched from offensive overseer, to focused facilitator.  From 10:13 in the fourth until 4:54 remaining in the game, the Celtics went scoreless and the Bulls cut the deficit from 11 to three.  Rondo and KG worked the pick and pop and Garnett missed four open jump shots.  As the Celtics went cold, the Bulls cut the lead to the three on a Joakim Noah dunk with 3:33 left. Rondo calmly waited at the top of the key and hit Jason Terry for a 3-pointer.  Thirty seconds later, after a timeout and the Bulls added a free throw, Rondo came off a pick from Paul Pierce into the lane and lofted an alley oop to Kevin Garnett. With 49.5 seconds left and the Bulls within two points, Rondo again used a Pierce pick to get into the lane and gave another oop to KG. Finally, up four with 25 seconds left, Rondo fired a laser to the baseline and hit a wide open Brandon Bass for a dunk that would put Chicago away for good.  Unlike other years, when Rondo was afraid to handle the ball late in games, when the game was on the line the Celtics point guard dismantled the best defense in the NBA with cold-blooded execution.  Rondo racked up four assists in the final three and a half minutes of play to seal an important road win for Boston.

It was an MVP performance.  It was the type we've seen from Rondo from time to time over the years, and the type we may see a lot more of this season now that this team is unquestionably in his hands.  It was another reminder that we are all just renting space here...because it's Rondo's world.  

@Celts_GreenRoom

e-mail me here.

After three less than stellar performances to open the season, it didn't take the Boston Celtics long to flip the general mood of the fan base on its head.  Before 4% of the season has been played, the Celtics have managed to turn themselves from a deep, experienced title contender, to an underachieving amalgam of pieces that don't fit.  And we haven't even had Thanksgiving dinner yet!

I can't say I blame Celtics fans for their concern. After a semi-promising opening night against the Heat (they scored over 100 points against a good defense, amiright?), the Celtics were dismantled in front of a packed TD Garden for their home opener, and submitted a lackluster performance in a win over Washington that they would have blown if every member of the Wizards didn't forget how to do sports in the final 90 seconds of the game. When the offense doesn't appear plodding and inefficient, the Celtics are allowing free passage to the basket for layups. Stars and scrubs alike have been lighting up the Celtics this year, they have not discriminated.  Also, Wizards.

Jeff Green hears your hate and he combats it with flying, fancy open-mouthed funk dunks.

It is not that Celtics fans are upset, but rather the target of their ire for which I take umbrage. (You were probably wondering where the umbrage was.  Well now you know.  I took it.)

The superfluous criticism of Jeff Green after just three games has been unfair.  I understand that there are a number of factors that have led to this criticism, but I still don't think he's as bad as everyone is claiming he is so far this year. 

The reasons Green may be under such scrutiny are partly his fault and partly out of his control.  Green's success in the preseason may have given fans and the media a fault sense of hope and expectation for the Celtics reserve forward. Green averaged 14 ppg, shot 49% from the field and 40% from behind the arc.  Fans should understand that in most of those eight preseason games Green was the team's first offensive option when he was on the floor. Plays were being run for him, and the competition, from both the opponents and his own teammates, was far inferior to what he was to face in a regular season game.  Green has reached 27 minutes in a game once this season. Of the eight preseason games, Green only played less than 27 minutes twice, and played 38 and 32 minutes in his two best games, the final pair of the preseason.  If you give Jeff Green the confidence, and most importantly, the playing time of a starter, you will see similar results. 

Another reason Green is being put down is the contract he signed in the offseason.  The Celtics gave Green 36 million based on what they want him to be down the road, not based on what he's done so far in his career. Was he not supposed to sign the deal? I will come down on a player who signs for big money with the Celtics, then performs worse than he has in the past after he got the money. I find it hard to harp on a player who signed a contract and remains the player he always was.  This is where Jeff Green is at right now.  I would sign that contract again today if I were Danny Ainge, because I think Jeff Green will live up to it when/if he is given a chance.  If Rivers is going to keep him around 20 minutes a game, not make him a focal point of the offense when he is in, and yank him every time he hits a rough patch, you will continue to see a similar Jeff Green as what you've seen.  Let me be clear here that I do not think Jeff Green should start over Paul Pierce, play 40 minutes a night, or be the first option when he is in with the starters.  I just don't think he should carry the expectations of that type of player when he isn't given that type of opportunity yet.  I still expect big things from Green this season in the role he currently has with the team.  

Former Celtics reserve Jiri Welsch makes Jeff Green look like Michael Jordan.

Beyond the expectations vs. reality discussion is the fact that I don't think Green has really been that bad so far this season.  I never thought he was James Worthy in the preseason, but I don't think he is Jiri Welsch now.  Against the Heat Green was limited to just three points, and didn't have a strong defensive showing, but I thought his shot selection was solid.  He took three shots inside and one mid-range jumper.  The lay ups weren't falling like they did before the season started, but I liked his aggressiveness in his first game back, on the road, against the best team in the league and the best player in the world.  My only issue in that game was that he failed to take a shot in the second half.  I don't want Green losing confidence in himself just because he misses a few shots.  If Green isn't running the floor, taking his man off of the dribble, and scoring, he doesn't help the team tremendously. I think he is an okay re bounder and passer and a serviceable defender against bigger wing players, but what they need Green to do is run the floor and score.  I'm afraid with negative press, and with Doc Rivers reportedly getting on him, Green may lose confidence in himself.  I think that Green bounced back in the games against the Bucks and Wizards, shooting 10-of-19 from the floor including two 3-pointers, but the criticism only seemed to get louder.

I realize there are always going to be Jeff Green haters. People will hate the contract.  They will hate the fact that he replaced Kendrick Perkins, one of the few professional athletes in history that most fans can run faster than and can jump higher than. But if the Celtics fans and media can be patient, they'll see the kind of positive impact Jeff Green will have on this team, this year. It may take a minor injury and a few games off for Paul Pierce for fans to see Green's true potential, I just hope it doesn't come to that.  The Boston Celtics need a healthy core, but also a confident Jeff Green, to get back to the Eastern Conference Finals this year. 

So can we just wait until the sixth game of the season to rip the guy?

@Celts_GreenRoom

e-mail me here.

FULL ENTRY

Finally.

The most anticipated regular seasons since Kevin Garnett and Ray Allen wore something other than a Boston Celtics uniform is finally here. Of the two, though, only Garnett re-upped with Boston, as Allen chose to play with the Miami Heat in free agency (I'll get back to this a little later) The dawn of this season has a similar feel to that one as well. There are a lot of new faces that bring a lot of expectations. Those faces don't come with the reputations that Ray Allen and Kevin Garnett do, but their addition and potential impact may yield similar results.

Ever since KG's injury in 2009, the future of this team was in question. Danny Ainge, known as a wheeler and dealer who was always willing to make the cold-blooded move to improve his team, was always lingering in the background, ready to break up the band. Since that year, Celtics fans were waiting to see when this thing was going to be blown up, and where the team would be when the dust settled. After Ainge decided to reload and retool rather than clean house, the core of the team you will see on the floor tonight in Miami is what you are going to get for the near future. Rajon Rondo, Garnett, Jeff Green, Brandon Bass, Jason Terry, Courtney Lee, , and Jared Sullinger are all under contract through the 2014-15 season. Avery Bradley's option was picked up for 13-14 and the he will be restricted in 14-15.  Pierce is locked up for this season and next, and I would bet my house that he aligns the remainder of his career to match KG's, he said so himself. For the next three years Celtics fans get to sit back and just watch this team play basketball...

Finally.

Let's see if this team can live up to the last team that we watched in such comfort.  The 2008 Celtics are a mammoth pair of shoes to fill, and probably an unrealistic target to hit for the 2012 version.  The 2008 Celtics were a wagon; fueled by three hungry Hall-of-Famers with something to prove.  Time will tell how many of the 2012 end up enshrined in Springfield, but the tone of the team is different. One thing that this team has that 2008 didn't have, however, is a loaded bench.  Jason Terry, Jeff Green, Courtney Lee, Jared Sullinger, and Leandro Barbosa could play starters minutes on more than half the teams in the NBA. Chris Wilcox, Darko Milicic, and Jason Collins have all been starters elsewhere in the league.  James Posey, Eddie House, Glen Davis and then P.J.Brown and Sam Cassell had their moments, but I believe were a largely overrated group of reserves. P.J. Brown's rep was basically one shot in Game 7 against the Cavaliers, and I remember praying Sam Cassell would hit a shot when he was in the game. Eddie House was hot and cold, and Glen Davis was inconsistent with his play and playing time.  James Posey was their one, great bench player.  This year, the Celtics should have at least five players off the bench that will make a major impact.  I'll spotlight players individually as the season moves along, but I think the player who will have the most surprisingly good year to Celtics fans is Courtney Lee.  Lee won't start the year on the bench with Avery Bradley still out after shoulder surgery earlier in the year, but assuming Bradley regains his starting spot, Lee will be a valuable asset off the bench.  In Lee the Celtics have a young role player with confidence who can shoot threes, defend as well as he scores, runs the floor and has good hops to throw down the alley-oop at the other end.  Since 2008, the Celtics haven't had a player as versatile as Courtney Lee, and now they do...

Finally.

I think the Boston Celtics are going to be a really good basketball team this year.  Over the past few years the Celtics have dragged through the regular season, doing just enough to earn a top-five seed, and then flipped the switch in the playoffs, when it counts most.  In 2010 and 2012 the Celtics went further than most have expected, only to lose heartbreaking games against rivals on the road.  I believe that this is the year they buck the trend of mediocre regular seasons.  With Jeff Green, Courtney Lee, Jared Sullinger, Avery Bradley, and Rajon Rondo as major contributors in the rotation, the Old Celtics somehow got younger while getting better.  When Ainge added solid, experienced veterans such as Jason Terry, Leandro Barbosa, and Jason Collins, he gave the Celtics the depth that they needed to win games while resting Pierce and KG.  If Doc Rivers can rest Pierce and Garnett against weaker opponents, or really good opponents on the road (like his mentor Gregg Popovich does with his aging core), I think the Celtics can post a top-two seed in the Eastern Conference.  If the Miami Heat suffer an injury to one or two of their top four players, the Boston Celtics may host the critical Game 7 this year.  If that's the case this year, it would be hard to bet against this team with the type of home court advantage they have at the Garden.  (click that if you don't remember Game 6 of the ECF). 

Time will tell.  The playoffs are a long way away, and the journey begins tonight against their rivals, and the preseason favorite to win a second consecutive NBA championship; the Miami Heat. The Heat also tried to reload, although they made only one significant addtion, in my opinion. Ray Allen turned down twice the money and turned his back on his teammates when he signed with Miami.  The decision showed what I believed had always been the truth; Ray Allen was not a true member of the Big Three.  It never felt to me that he bought into the mystique and the camaraderie like Pierce and KG did, and if we are honest with ourselves, he was never as important as the other two, and later Rondo.  I think Allen knew it from the beginning, and waited until he had the opportunity stick it to the organization and the other three.  He never planned on coming back and didn't even really try.  I think he's trying even less to hide it, tossing halfhearted comments about how he had no problems with the team and blah, blah, blah.  The bottom line, is that the great ones in league history, a group that Ray Allen considers himself a part, never switched to their rivals for a lesser role and half the money.  It was a lame move and shows a small, petty side to Ray Allen's character that was hidden during his five years with the team.  Once Allen left town, he was able to express how he really felt about his final years in Boston...

Finally.

As far as tonight's game goes, I see the Celtics doing what they usually do; winning games everyone else thinks they're going to lose.  I see the Heat going up big earlier in the first half, feeding off of the energy boost that comes with receiving a championship ring. When that boost fades, along with the attention span of the South Beach crowd, the Celtics will creep into the game, take a fourth quarter lead, and actually hold it, thanks to their new closer, Jason Terry.  It will be nice to have someone other than Paul Pierce to create shots in the fourth quarter and make them...

Finally! 

I'm picking the Celtics to finish with the second best record in the Eastern Conference, behind Miami. I think they have a great shot to win the top seed, but it will take injuries or issues with Miami that I can't force into my preaseason prediction.  By the same token, I am picking the Celtics to lose in the Eastern Conference Finals in Game 7 in Miami, again.  Would I be surprised if they are back in the Finals this year? Absolutely not.  I just need to see them play some regular season games before I'm willing to pick them to beat the Heat.  One thing I am sure of is watching this team for this season, and the next few, will be extremely enjoyable.  Celtics fans have been waiting for this season to start since the closing minutes of Game 7 of the Eastern Conference Finals and now it is here...

FINALLY.

Bold Predictions:

Regular season record: 60-22

Rajon Rondo, 2nd in MVP voting, 1st team All-NBA.

Jeff Green, 6th Man of the Year.

The Celtics' remarkable postseason run came to an end Saturday evening in Miami.  After hanging with the heavily favored Miami Heat for six games and three quarters, and trading blows early in the fourth quarter of Game 7, Boston finally succumbed to the talent deficit, succumbed to their age, succumbed finally to reality.  There was a finality to everything after the game that was lost on no one.  It lived in the blank stare that Ray Allen had on his face for his entire post game press conference. It bubbled over in the emotions of Doc Rivers, both on the sidelines and on the dais. It rang in the remarks Paul Pierce gave from a somber locker room.  It even caught up with Rajon Rondo and Kevin Garnett as they tried to escape it by running to the locker room as seconds still remained in Game 7.  There was no hiding from it, the finality of that Game 7 loss. 

The Big Four Era is over. 

You may say, "we heard this last year," and indeed, many fans and media jumped the gun on penning the obituary of the Garnett-Pierce-Allen trio.  Most thought that the five game dismantling at the hands of the Heat in 2011 would be enough for Danny Ainge to do what he must and blow up the team.  But even after Ainge stood pat in the off season and at the 2012 trade deadline, there was always an expiration date on this deal.  The contracts of Kevin Garnett and Ray Allen are up and the Celtics won't re-sign both, if either.  Rajon Rondo and Paul Pierce and Avery Bradley are the only non-rookies currently on the books for the 2013 season.  Rondo is the future of the organization now; either the cornerstone on which to build or the most valuable asset at Danny Ainge's disposal. 

No matter which direction Danny Ainge goes, and there are many, that is a discussion for another day.  Now is the time to reflect on an a team that will be remembered as much for its toughness and heart, as it will for its sole championship. 

It all started with Garnett.

Technically, the opening salvo from the Boston Celtics in 2007 was the draft day trade with Seattle for Ray Allen.  But if that was "bang" from the starters gun that let the league know that the Celtics were making some changes, then the trade for Kevin Garnett was the shot heard 'round the world.  

The Intro was epic. 

It is not hyperbole when it is said that KG changed the entire culture of the Celtics organization. 

KG wasn't just "the defensive backstop," a cliche used on every big man who sits around the rim blocking shots or fouling people.  Kevin Garnett was the central nervous system of the Celtics when they were on defense.  KG would call out sets and rotations like a brain firing out synapses through the body.  Each defender responded and rotated like limbs, independent bodies acting as extensions of KG himself.  Garnett was very good on offense, but he was transcendent on defense.  He made good defenders out of Pierce and Allen, he brought Perkins to be viewed as one of the league's best defensive centers, he put Rajon Rondo on the all-defensive second team, twice.  People questioned what would happen to the Celtics defense when assistant coach Tom Thibodeau left.  With KG it was business as usual. We'll see what the result is when KG is no longer with the Celtics.

KG's presence wasn't felt on defense alone, his impact was felt throughout the organization and the locker room. Beyond his swearing, trash talk, and pregame histrionics, KG's name alone gave legitimacy to a team and an ownership group that had been a doormat for the better part of a decade.  Before KG came Paul Pierce had the same cocky swagger he does today; telling everyone that would listen that he was one of the best in the NBA.  KG came, the Celtics were in the Finals, and Pierce was the MVP.  Before KG came Ray Allen was a great player who had never been able to showcase it on the big stage.  The Celtics blew out the Lakers in Game 6 of the NBA Finals to win a championship on the back of Ray Allen's seven three-pointers in the final game.  Rajon Rondo ached to be the leader of the Celtics team.  KG said he was and it became true.  Celtics fans have always claimed to be the best fans in basketball.  KG told us we were, and then it became true.   

The other three had their moments as well, don't get me wrong.  While KG was the driving force that brought the Celtics to the Finals in 2008, Paul Pierce's run against the Lakers, where he was the best player on the floor for six games, is what ultimately raised banner 17.  Pierce's timely defense and offensive explosions were the difference in match-ups against the league's stars in both the regular season and the playoffs.  Pierce hit dozens of game-winners over the last five years, including some true back breakers that demoralized the Knicks and sent Dwyane Wade home in the 2010 playoffs.  Pierce will always be the Truth and the Captain, and his presence kept the organic relevance to this era in Celtics history. 

Rajon Rondo was an underrated part of the Celtics 2008 championship team in my opinion, but he really didn't emerge as a force to be reckoned with until 2009. Since then he has been a walking triple-double.  He plays like no other point guard in NBA history and as intriguing and mysterious as his game is on the floor, Rondo vexes us all off the floor as well.  With all of the Hall-of-Famers he has played with, I've enjoyed watching Rondo the most over the past five years. 

Ray Allen had two historic shooting nights in the NBA Finals, in Game 6 in 2008 as mentioned above and in Game 2 of the 2010 Finals when he hit a record eight treys to tie that series.  It was two other performances that I remember most of Ray Allen's Celtics career.  In Game 4 of the 2008 Finals after coming back from down 20-points, the Celtics were clinging to a late lead.  Rather than give the ball to Pierce on a clear out, or play pick-and-roll with KG, the Celtics gave the ball to Ray Allen.  Not for a three-point shot, but to play a little "hero ball" against Sasha Vujacic. Ray took the weak defender off the dribble and all but ended the Lakers chances in the series.  The other moment I'll remember was Ray Allen's epic shootout against the Bulls' Ben Gordon in the opening round in 2009.  The Celtics, with KG injured had all they could handle against Derrick Rose and the upstart Bulls, and while the series was pitched to be a Rondo vs. Rose affair (and it often was), the real duel happened between two former UConn stars, Allen and Gordon.  The most memorable of the games was Ray Allen's 51-point performance in a Triple overtime thriller. 

Like that Bulls series in 2009, the most meaningful performances, and the ones that define this era for me, didn't come in the 2008 season that brought the championship.  The times that this team showed its colors, its grit and balls, came when few beyond Celtics loyalists believed that they'd succeed.  That championship team had to win. They wanted to prove to the league that the three of them could succeed together and they treated the regular season like their own personal punching bag. By the time they got to the playoffs, with the league's best record, they had to finish.  They owed that to Boston and the fans, they owed it to Celtics legends as a ticket into the club, they owed it to themselves.  In 2009, with their best player on the bench, the Celtics fought two grueling seven games series, finally losing to Dwight Howard and the Magic, who eventually lost in the Finals.  In 2010, as the regular season dragged, the basketball world wrote them off.  In the playoffs as the fourth seed, the Celtics sent home Dwyane Wade, Lebron James, and Dwight Howard in succession, before falling to the Lakers in seven memorable games.  It took a Kendrick Perkins knee injury and a few Metta Ron World Peace Artest prayers to dispatch the Celtics in Game 7.  In 2011, Rajon Rondo's dislocated elbow led to a shortened, five-game affair against the Heat.  I believe the Celtics still would have lost with a healthy Rondo, but it would have gone seven games. I was maybe proved right this season as they took the heavily favored Heat until late in the fourth quarter of Game 7 to put this Celtics team down, maybe for good. 

These Celtics are champions.  They won a Finals against champions and lost a Finals against champions.  With a healthy Big Four they were never dispatched in less than seven games (Rondo and his bad elbow spent the last 12 minutes of Game 5 on the bench).  They weren't always the best, but they were always the toughest.  I don't believe they'd appreciate any compliment more. 

Ray Allen and Mickael Pietrus underwent surgeries on Wednesday, joining Jeff Green, Chris Wilcox, Avery Bradley, and Jermaine O'Neal. Pierce and Greg Stiemsma could join them shortly. The Celtics have collected their share of battle scars over the past five years.  These warriors aren't getting any younger.  Winter is coming.   

If Game 7 on Saturday night truly was the Outro for this era, we couldn't ask for anything more. 

@Celts_GreenRoom

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The Boston Celtics will suit up in Miami tonight to play possibly their final game together as currently constituted. The Big Three are coming in for their final approach. "Grit and Balls" teeters on the brink of extinction. Once again these Celtics have showed themselves to be what they've always been, no matter how much we wished they were different. They are imperfect champions, frustrating fighters. Almost everyone expected them to finish off the Miami Heat in Boston. We thought that the Celtics gave the kill shot in Game 5, and that all that was left to do was put Miami out of its misery. Give them a Garden funeral, once and for all, and send them into an off season full of second-guessing, speculation, and ultimately, significant changes. Instead, one of the most unpredictable teams did the one thing we should have been able to predict all along. They failed to make it easy.

The Celtics are hard defined. 

From their hard-nosed center, their hard-headed point guard, easy and the Celtics have never been a match.  They are harder than knuckle pushups. When they are good they are hard to ignore and when they are bad they can be hard to watch (See Game 6.)  

Thankfully, though, they've been hard to count out.  

The Celtics have rarely had an easy time of it in the playoffs.  Series in 2010 against the Heat and 2011 against the Knicks aside, this group has never taken less than six games to dispatch an opponent in five playoff runs. They've gone the full seven games six times since their first run in 2008 and have won four.  Tonight makes lucky number seven.   A win tonight would be their most improbable of the seven.  After failing on their home floor, where they have been dominant in the postseason, the Celtics will have to win in Miami for the second straight game to make it back to the NBA Finals.  Nobody expects them to pull it off, which seems to be just the way they like it. 

If the Celtics are going to have a chance to pull the upset they need to play like the Celtics. 

They need to play hard. 

In Game 6 the Celtics were willing victims to Lebron James greatness.  Their home jerseys proving to be little more than flags of surrender. If this era is going to end tonight by James' hands again, they need to make him earn it. They need to make him feel their presence. 

They need to make it hard.  

After Game 1 Rondo said that the Heat, "have to hit the deck too."  Rondo backed up those comments by having the best game of his life, but his declaration seemed to fall on deaf ears. The Celtics fought hard but after getting an early lead, never imposed the physical will that Rondo was asking for.  When the Celtics are at their best they are bullying the other team physically.  They take the game and bend it to their will, and if the other team can get rough, and dirty, and hard, and still win, so be it.  That's the type of basketball that has defined this team for the past five years.  That's the type of basketball that needs to be on display tonight.  Win or lose, the Celtics need to leave their fans and the league a true impression of the kind of team they've been during this run.  Fearless scrappers that, good or bad, continued to defy expectations and always went down swinging; always fought hard.

Beating Lebron James and Dwyane Wade and the Heat in Game 7 of the Eastern Conference Finals in Miami would be a hard road to glory.  For this team there is no other kind. 

"You and me, we created something special,
        You and me always standing at the threshold."--Deer Tick, Standing at the Threshold

The Boston Celtics are standing at the threshold of a third NBA Finals appearance in the last five years; an unimaginable feat to anyone that follows the laws of gravity and common sense.  A team that was written off and left for dead two and half years ago.  Mid-season 2010 had the vultures circling, swooping, playing target practice with that white spot atop Rasheed Wallace's noggin and hoping, praying that Big Baby Davis was the first to drop. (We could eat for months!!!)

Two years later the vultures have flown off for less gamy prey, or have dropped dead from exhaustion.  The team that was old half a decade ago certainly hasn't gotten any younger, they've just become harder to kill.  These Celtics, this season, haven't won playoff series as much as they've survived them.  Dodging the Reaper that touched Dwight Howard's back, tapped Derrick Rose on the knee, and punched Chris Bosh in the stomach.  Maybe he thought he'd done enough already by going to work on Jeff Green (heart), Chris Wilcox (heart), Jermaine O'Neal (no heart, and thanks again, by the way), leaving only enough to take out both of Avery Bradley's shoulders when just one wouldn't do the trick.  The Celtics can't complain about health at this point though; not the bone spurs floating in Ray Allen's ankle or the damage in Paul Pierce's knee.  For early June, the Celtics are as healthy as they could ask to be.  A few nicks and bruises aren't going to knockout this group.  Just ask Miami.

Standing between the Celtics and the NBA Finals is their antithesis.  One of the great teams in the league will face two of the great individuals in the NBA.  Dwyane Wade and Lebron James will walk into the TD Garden for Game 6 to face a rabid fan base, a hungry Celtics team, and all of the pressure in the world.  The Celtics don't have five great defenders, but they have a great team defense.  The Celtics don't have great individual scorers, but their offense runs like a well-oiled machine ONLY when they move the ball and execute the plays as a team.  The Heat have two great players, but even those two aren't great together.   James and Wade don't play in concert; one is the opening act for the other. And they do not make beautiful music together.  They are not volleyball, they are tag-team wrestling.  James dominates a quarter. Tag. Wade gets it going. Tag. The Celtics couldn't pull this off if they tried. They don't have the horses. You can't play "hero ball" with five Robins and no Batman. 

In order to get past Game 6 the Heat will have to beat the most defiant team in NBA history.  This Celtics team defies logic, defies statistics, defies aging.  The Celtics don't defy aging in that creepy way that 70-years olds who dye their hair, go tanning, workout seven days a week and chug HGH smoothies do.  They defy age like the 80-year old who has never worked out in his life and sits at the bar smoking cigarettes and slugging whiskey and eating steaks does.  The guy you look across the bar at and say to your friend, "how is that guy not dead yet?" 

How is this team not dead yet!?

They were too old to outlast the Lakers in the 2010 Finals. Too washed up to hang with the Heat last season.  Too finished to sniff .500 after 30 games this season. They couldn't control a series against a banged up Hawks team in the first round. They went the distance against one of the worst playoff teams in NBA history in the Sixers in the quarterfinals.  This team has lived a thousands lives and died a thousand deaths and still they stand. And still they win. 

I'm finished trying to figure out what has gotten this Celtics team back to the threshold. I thought it was Avery Bradley.  I thought it was Rondo or KG, or Pierce and his knack for the big moment.  I thought it was Doc Rivers.  Each of these players have been great and poor at times in this postseason.  The truth is, you can't separate anything with this team.  Nobody and nothing stands alone.  The starters, the bench, the coach, the history, the role players, the legends, the Garden, the fans, together have created something special over the last five years.  No season has been more special to me than this one.  This team was supposed to go out with a whimper.  This season was to be little more than an abbreviated farewell tour. A jumbled, creaky thirty-something games before a trade deadline hacked the team apart limb from limb and sold the meat for pennies on the dollar.  Ray Allen was a Grizzly.  Paul Pierce was a Net.  KG was a vegetable.  But Danny and Doc and luck and fate allowed the Celtics to finish this thing on their own terms, together.  As a fan I'm thankful that I had the opportunity to watch what will likely be the end of an era with the team intact.  I have no idea if this team will have enough to complete the journey; to truly accomplish what was once unthinkable.  It really doesn't matter one way or another. But here we are again, standing at threshold. 

 

The Heat should get Dwyane Wade a white lab coat.

While the Miami superstar has not earned his PhD, like Shaq, Sunday night Wade for the first in his career cleared an NBA player to come off the injured list. Before Wade's failed last second three-point attempt landed on the parquet floor, the Heat were laying Chris Bosh's home white uniform in his locker at American Airlines Arena in Miami.

Whether Dr. Wade's forced diagnosis is correct or not, it appears that Chris Bosh is going to be playing in Game 5. It's obvious at this point that Miami feels that they can't beat the Boston Celtics with Bosh on the bench. While this could possibly be viewed as a panic move, especially considering the report that Bosh will be playing in Game 5 was all over the internet about 30 seconds, if Bosh is truly healthy and ready to play, it is the right move.

Some view Bosh's reinsertion into the rotation as an answer to the dominant play of Kevin Garnett down low. The Heat's lack of depth in the front court has hurt them in the series, but if they are relying on Chris Bosh's defense on KG to swing the momentum of the series back in Miami's favor I believe they'll be disappointed. KG has traditionally played very well against Chris Bosh, even at 100%. Bosh hasn't played a game in anger in weeks (if ever), and Game 1 of the Pacers series, or any game in the Knicks series can match the intensity of a Boston-Miami Eastern Conference Finals.  If Miami is forced to play Bosh on KG for big minutes, the match-up should favor the Celtics. I don't believe that Miami sees Bosh's biggest impact coming on the defensive end.

If Chris Bosh truly is going to be the X-factor in the final three games of the series, it's his ability to pull Celtics bigs, specifically KG, away from the paint, opening up James and Wade for drives.  KG's impact on the Heat's Big Two has come on his help defense; his wiry, lanky shadow has been stretched across the path to the basket in front of James and Wade every time they have the ball in their hands.  If KG's man was able to hit open shots from the perimeter, he'd have to vacate the paint, opening things up for the Heat.  In Game 1, the Celtics had KG covering Shane Battier and Mike Miller at times.  Early on KG stayed close to the paint and the Heat shooters got going. Later, he'd be out further on the shooters and late rotating to the hoop.  The Celtics were blown out.  KG's impact is the most obvious of any player on the defensive end of either team. Every time he goes to the bench, the first offensive play for the Heat ends in a Lebron James dunk, followed by Celtics players looking behind them before realizing that the backstop is sitting on the bench. If Chris Bosh can have this effect on the Celtics defense, than Boston will come home down 3-2.

Here's the thing, though.  KG isn't going to guard Chris Bosh.  Brandon Bass is.

Brandon Bass has had trouble fitting in this series.  As I mentioned in the series preview, I thought that Bass had to have a big series in order for the Celtics to win.  So far, on both ends of the floor, Bass has been disappointing at worst, and underwhelming at best.  With Chris Bosh returning for Game 5, I think Bass has an opportunity to shine.  Up to this point, Bass has had to cover perimeter players like Shane Battier in the series. Battier, while never a speed demon and even slower with advancing age, still has a crafty offensive game.  Bass has struggled biting on pump fakes and closing out too ferociously, allowing Battier to go baseline or draw fouls on the Celtics forward.  Bass is an undersized forward who is used to having to play bigger against bigger opponents. When Bass is on Bosh he returns to his defensive comfort level, covering a bigger player. 

Offensively, Bass will benefit from facing Chris Bosh as well.  Miami has done a great job smothering Bass as soon as he gets the ball.  Bass is a turnover machine when he isn't doing the one thing that he does well, shooting.  Brandon Bass controls his dribbling like a 90-year old at a nap time, and under pressure, the guy can't pass a kidney stone. Battier and others Miami have thrown at him haven't allowed him the space to knock down his deadly mid-range shot and the lack of opportunities has hurt his rhythm.  A healthy Chris Bosh on defense let's opponent get comfortable offensively.  Bass should be able to get off a few shots, and if he makes them, it will open up his power dribble move to the rim.  Bosh can't match a wide body like Haslem, or the defensive will of a Battier for that matter, and won't put up much of a fight if Bass gets moving toward the rim and clears him out with a power move.

Both offensively and defensively Brandon Bass should be able to more than cancel out for the Celtics any tangible boost that Chris Bosh gives the Heat. Miami will have to look for other players and adjustments to counteract what Boston has done to them the last two games.

The Heat should give Wade stethoscope too. He can use it to find what his team seems to lack, what Boston has in abundance, and maybe the only true X-factor that will decide this seris: heart. 

@Celts_GreenRoom

e-mail me here

The Celtics desperately need a win in Game 4 to make this a long series, and shift the pressure back on the Miami Heat.

The longer the series goes, the better chance that the Celtics have to win it. The Celtics, in pressure situations, come together and play their best basketball. The jury is still out on the Heat, specifically Lebron James, on whether either can handle the spotlight. Last year in the playoffs against Boston, the Celtics were never able to extend the series long enough to force Lebron to come through in the clutch. A win tonight, and the Heat are basically in a must-win in Game 5. A loss, and the series is all but over. These are the stakes. The Celtics put themselves in this position by not finishing the Heat off in Game 2. It's strange but it is almost as if this team can't become interested until their backs are pushed against the wall. They aren't fully engaged until their collective lives are the on the line. Well, if that's the case the Celtics should be more than ready for tonight's game, because if they don't pull this one out, the Big Three Era may be heading to Miami to do what most people do when they move to Florida, retire.

Here are three keys to tonight's game...

Bench press: If Keyon Dooling, Mickael Pietrus, and Marquis Daniels can combine to provide half of what they gave the Celtics in Game 3, Boston should have a good chance to tie the series.

Official-ly problematic: Famous Celtics-hater Bill Kennedy, and famous home-team hater Joey Crawford will combine for one of the worst possible officiating crews the Celtics could have hoped for in Game 4. Of course, this means that the Celtics will probably win by 20.

Captain come back. Please: If the Boston Celtics are going to win Game 4 and tie the series, I believe Paul Pierce needs to have a classic playoff performance. I think Rondo will be his dominant self, Ray Allen will make shots, but I can't count on KG dominating after taking that much of a beating in Game 3. If the Celtics are going to make this a series, Pierce needs to put his stamp on the playoffs tonight.

The 2012 NBA Playoffs begin tonight for the Boston Celtics. 

Yes, I'm aware that two series are already in the books, and Monday night was the opener of the Eastern Conference Finals, a game that had Miami trying to deliver a first round knockout.  The Heat punched the Celtics in the mouth, and then literally laughed in the face of their battered opponent. 

The only thing the Celtics can do is counter punch.  

In years past, the question of whether the Celtics would come out swinging after a loss like that wouldn't be necessary.  In both 2009 and 2010 the only way you could beat the Celtics was going the distance.  Even with KG injured, the Celtics beat the upstart Bulls in Game 7, and just missed a trip to the ECF by falling to the Orlando Magic in Game 7.  The question wasn't would the Celtics counter punch, it was would the other team still be standing.  In 2011, however, that wasn't the case.  After losing Game 1 against the Heat in the second round last year, the Celtics responded by losing again in Miami.  They fought back and won in Game 3, but couldn't close out Game 4, eventually losing the series in five.  Tired legs and an injured Rajon Rondo (he didn't play in Game 5) were easy excuses, but the Celtics' inablilty to come back in Game 2 and keep it a close series is what did them in. 

The one notable difference in the first two series versus last year, is the absence of Kendrick Perkins.  Now, don't get me wrong, I don't think Kendrick Perkins would swing this series, by any means.  God love him, but Perk is as slow a professional athlete as I remember. He has cement feet and granite hands.  I could run a 5K in the time it takes him to collect an offensive rebound, come down, and lay it back in and the motion of his jumpshot mirrors that of a medievil catapult. What Perkins can do, and did for the Celtics when he was here, is change the way superstars Lebron James and Dwyane Wade approach taking to the ball to the hoop.  On many occasions it was Perk they were looking up at when James and Wade "hit the deck," to borrow a phrase from Rajon Rondo.  So minus Perk, who on the Celtics can set the tone Rondo is looking for?  Who can levy the counter punch? 

The obvious choice would be Kevin Garnett? Afterall, he is the second dirtiest player in the league. Even with that moniquer, KG isn't that kind of dirty.  He may talk a ton of trash, give a little extra shove or elbow after the whistle, he once even went where no man should ever go, but Garnett is not really the type to give hard fouls.  KG will play good, hard defense until the whistle, but he is so rarely beaten bad enough that he needs to give the hard, statement foul.  Usually he is in range to make a block or a deflection, so that his defense is pretty straight up.  Perkins' defense was based on the team concept, positioning, and rotation. If he was ever out on an island with a faster player he would be blown by and had no problem knocking the guy to the ground.  So who else is going to do the dirty work?  Pierce is probably the toughest guy on the team, but it is toughness born of taking beatings, not handing them out.  Brandon Bass and Ray Allen are constantly locked in a "nice guy" competition, (Ray's technical aside), and Rajon Rondo may not be big enough to take out anyone other than Erik Spoelstra. 

My suggestion?  Mickael Pietrus.  Air France has made little impact in the playoffs so far and has an opportunity to make his presence felt by flooring James or Wade early in Game 2.  I agree with Rondo. A good, hard, playoff foul may be what it takes to wake up the Celtics, and get Miami out of their comfort zone.  Pietrus has never been afraid to give the hard foul, and he has the low key demeanor to keep his head when the other team overreacts.  Also, if the referees get a little trigger happy and bounce him from the game, the Celtics don't lose a ton. 

The Celtics will need more than a few Heat players hitting the deck to win Game 2.  They will need to move the ball on offense, knock down the open shots and easy baskets that they had plenty of in Game 1, and turn up the intensity on defense.  They'll have to get the loose balls that the Heat consistently beat them to on Monday.  Finally, they'll have to have a big night, a podium game, from one of their four stars.  The Celtics are in for a fight in Game 2.  They'll either deliver a counter punch, or suffer a TKO. 

E-mail me here, or tweet me @Celts_GreenRoom

 

**UPDATE**

A reader (@RicFlair33) contacted me on Twitter and suggested Ryan Hollins be the one to give the hard foul. Great suggestion, and one I probably should have thought of.  I'll blame the ommission on my constant fight to avoid thinking about the fact that Ryan Hollins plays meaningful minutes in the playoffs for the Celtics.  Hollins certainly has the reputation. He was voted the 11th dirtiest player, and he barely plays!!!  That would mean that his dirt-to-minutes-played ratio must be off the charts. 

The Boston Celtics and the Miami Heat will once again face off in the playoffs; this time in the Eastern Conference Finals. Last season, the Heat, and Lebron James specifically, "exorcised " their playoff demon, these Celtics, by handily defeating Boston in the second round. The loss was supposed to be the death knell for the Celtics' Big Three; the absolute certainty of the beating lending a resigned approval from fans to Danny Ainge to do what must be done.  

If the loss to the Heat in last year's playoffs wasn't enough, Celtics fans had seen all they needed to see in the beginning of the season to know that something had to change if the Celtics wanted to remain viable in the near future.  On February 22nd, the Celtics lost to the Oklahoma City Thunder by 15 points. It was their fifth consecutive loss and put the Celtics record at 15-17.  Major changes at the March 15th deadline seemed a foregone conclusion.  The Celtics responded by winning the next five games and going 8-2, culminating with a gutsy, 105-103 win against the Golden State Warriors on the road.

Whether it was the hot streak, a lack of willing partners, or a want of value in proposed deals, the Celtics roster remained basically unchanged after the deadline.  The fact that the Celtics were neither buyers nor sellers made the deadline idleness feel like a delaying of the inevitable. The expectations shifted from total overhaul, to let the old guys give a victory lap and lose in the first or second round of the playoffs. 

Lost a bit in the midst of the ups and downs of the season and the anxiety of what was thought to be an evolutionary trade deadline, was two factors that would help to change the view of the Celtics as the playoffs neared.  The first was the emergence of Avery Bradley as an impact player. The second was the season being submitted by Kevin Garnett, the Renaissance Man.

Avery Bradley's career to this point could be summed thusly: one trick pony.  I've never seen a pony, and can't imagine them doing tricks, so let's try another comparison.  I had a friend in college that we'd bring to parties and bars with us who brought literally nothing to the table other than the fact that he was very tall, well-dressed, and extremely good looking.  Beyond that, this guy was vapid.  He'd just sit there and blink, never bothering to engage in conversations or even pretend to laugh at references that whizzed by his head.  A meat sack in denim and cologne.  But the ladies came flocking.  So we kept him around.  His only valuable "talent(?)" was just critical enough to keep him in the circle.  For the Celtics, Bradley was viewed similarly.
His on-ball defense was so singularly effective, the Celtics kept him on the roster.  When the Celtics wanted to pressure the opposition, Rivers would sic Bradley on the other team's point guard and he would dog him from baseline to baseline.  Beyond that part of his game, Bradley was sub par. His team defense wasn't great, and the offense sputtered when he replaced Rondo. When the Celtics were without Ray Allen towards the end of the season, Bradley began to flourish in the shooting guard role, hitting open shots in the corner, and freeing up Rondo from having to play the other team's best guard.  When Allen returned, Bradley had done enough to keep the future Hall-of-Famer on the bench, which added some scoring punch to a second unit struggling to find an offensive identity.  The Celtics were playing their best basketball heading into the post season and Bradley's emergence was a big part of it.

The other part was Kevin Garnett.  KG had been having a sneaky good season, but it wasn't until the Celtics were forced by mounting injuries to move him to the center position that the season turned around.  With Chris Wilcox out of the season and Jermaine O'Neal mercifully put out to pasture, the Celtics had no other choice but to move Brandon Bass into the starting lineup, and move a reluctant Kevin Garnett to the five spot.  Grumble as he may, the move seemed to energize KG.  It didn't make him better, but the competition at center, specifically in an Eastern Conference missing Dwight Howard for the playoffs, is a bunch of "nobodies," to borrow a phrase.  KG feasted on the less talented bigs, and was still the defensive stalwart.  Brandon Bass's efficient shooting helped the offense, and Bass benefited from playing with the starters, specifically Rondo. When the Celtics faced the Hawks in the first round, Atlanta didn't have an answer for Garnett, who dominated the series.  It looked to be more of the same early on against the Sixers, who seemed to eventually figure out KG by using rookie Lavoy Allen to push Garnett around.  The Celtics eventually overcame the upstart Sixers in seven games, leaving the Miami Heat as the final obstacle between Boston and another NBA Finals appearance. 

As the playoffs began, Boston in the Eastern Conference Finals was a major long shot.  The Celtics didn't rise as a playoff contender as much as others fell.  The Magic's Dwight Howard had back surgery, the Bulls' Derrick Rose blew out his knee in the first round, and the Heat's Chris Bosh suffered an abdominal strain against the Indiana Pacers. The Celtics have suffered their own rash of injuries, losing the aforementioned Avery Bradley to two bad shoulders and season-ending surgery.  Paul Pierce has a reported MCL issue, and Ray Allen is hobbling around with bone spurs floating around in his surgically repaired ankles.  Even with these issues, however, the Celtics' chances have improved markedly since the playoffs began.  Now they face the Miami Heat, who are missing a critical cog on a roster that wasn't very deep to begin with. 

The Celtics are decided underdogs in the series against the Heat.  The reasons that they would lose are many and obvious.  For the Celtics to win, I think four things will have to happen.

1.) Dominate the matchups. The Celtics have matchups in their favor at three positions in the starting five, in my opinion.  Point guard, power forward, and center are all positions that the Celtics will need to focus on in order to exploit Miami's weaknesses.  If Kevin Garnett, Brandon Bass, and most importantly, Rajon Rondo can dominate their opponents, the Celtics can steal some games and possibly the series.  Miami's coach Erik Spoelstra tends to overreact to matchups, which will benefit the Celtics. For example, if Rondo goes off early in Game 1, the Heat may move Lebron to cover Rondo. This will open up Paul Pierce to get going offensively and won't necessary slow down the Celtics point guard, who arguably is more valuable as a distributor than a scorer.  KG is an obvious key to series for Boston, just to stay competitive the Celtics will need to rely on their center most nights. Brandon Bass could prove the X-factor.  More nights like Game 5 of against the Sixers, and the Celtics may have what it takes to dethrone the Heat in the Eastern Conference.

2.) The bench must rise. Mickael Pietrus, Greg Stiemsma, Ryan Hollins, Keyon Dooling, Marquis Daniels and Sasha Pavlovic will all have opportunities to contribute for the Celtics in this series.  If Boston is to upset the Miami Heat, they will need to win the battle of the benches.  Pietrus must show up every night on both ends of the floor.  Beyond that, the Celtics need one or two big plays from these other players in order to win games. 

3.) The Doc Effect.  One matchup I've yet to mention that is decidedly in the Celtics favor is at head coach.  I think Doc Rivers, quietly, has had a bad playoffs so far.  In each series against the Hawks and the Sixers I think errors in judgment caused the series to extend.  Failing to feed Garnett late in some games when he was the best player in the series in Atlanta, and leaving Bass on the bench in Game 4 against the Sixers cost Boston.  If Doc can outfox Spoelstra, a coach who has issues controlling his own stars at times, I think Boston will be able to steal some games late. 

4.) The Heat must fall. Boston doesn't have the talent or depth this year to beat the Heat when both teams are playing at the top of their game.  As the pressure mounts, and the spotlight glares, Spoelstra, Dwyane Wade, and Lebron will have another opportunity to wither in a big moment. If the Celtics can extend the series, and exert the pressure, they will need a willing loser on the other bench to complete the upset.  The track record is there. We will see if those demons that were supposedly vanquished last postseason, can be awoken again. 

PREDICTION: I think that the Celtics will give a gusty, valiant effort. I think they will play above their heads, and I think they will take the series to the limit, but eventually succumb to the immense talent difference and the exhaustion of a long playoff run and lose in seven games.  I sincerely hope I'm wrong.

The Boston Celtics will have an opportunity to move one step closer to the NBA Finals with a win in Philadelphia on Wednesday night against the 76ers.

Midway through the season the Celtics were probably one of the last teams anyone would have picked to be in the Eastern Conference Finals.  Now they have the chance to be the first. 

The aging Celtics could certainly use the rest that would come with ending the in six games. With the series between the Heat and Pacers going at least six games, the earliest the ECF would start would be Saturday.  A victory on Wednesday night for Boston would also help to exercise some of the "can't close em' out" demons that have dogged the Celtics in this series and others over the last five seasons.  All of these factors benefit the Celtics, but the psychological importance of being first to close should not be overlooked.

If the Celtics can finish off Philadelphia on Wednesday night it will put pressure on the Miami Heat to close out the Indiana Pacers on Thursday evening.  As we saw earlier in that series, the Miami Heat do not necessarily excel in pressure situations.  The pressure intensifies for Miami when they know that it is Boston that awaits them in the the next round.  The Pacers have shown great fight as a team and exposed some weakness in Miami's armor, but they are not the Celtics.  Indiana doesn't have that winning pedigree yet.  They don't have the cache of having three Hall of Fame players and one of the most dynamic point guards in the league.  They don't have the experience of having sent Dwyane Wade and Lebron James home losers in an NBA Playoff series.  They don't have that championship swagger.  They don't have Doc Rivers.  Miami knows that the team that holds the greatest threat to making a return appearance in the NBA Finals resides in Boston. What better way to make them think about it even more by ending this series that should have been over in four and be able to put your feet up and rest? 

The Celtics need to make the Heat answer some questions about a potential Boston-Miami match-up, lusted after by most NBA fans ever since Derrick Rose's knee went boom.  Should the Heat lose in Game 6, and have to play a Game 7 in order to move on, there will be rumblings about them looking past Indiana in preparation for Boston.  The Celtics can do all of this by simply winning a game against a team that they are clearly better than.  A victory Wednesday night, and the Celtics hold the keys to the clubhouse, and they get to make Miami say the password to get in.  A loss, and all bets are off.  If the Celtics want to stick it to Miami, and start dominating the series before it even begins, they need to win and be first in.    

Three things I heard on the interwebs...

1.) Ode To The Stiemer: Celtics rookie Greg Stiemsma received one All-Rookie vote, which is voted on by NBA coaches.  Something tells me Bill Russell would have received more.

2.) I See Fat People:  KG Expounded on the TD Garden crowd after Monday night's win, “Every time I look up I see my family, I see people yelling, the drunk fat guy, I can’t decide. This crowd is ridiculous - I love it.’’

3.) CAPTION, FIXED:  "Hey, aren't you in Rules of Engagement?" "That season is over. Aren't you a Knicks fan?" "Ditto."

I didn't get any sleep Friday night.

I rolled around in bed until around 5am Saturday morning, when I finally got up and drove around town like a zombie, pretending to do errands. I still had the same burning pit in my chest from the night before. The burning started in the third quarter as I watched the Boston Celtics start unraveling. A little over a quarter later the Celtics would turn an 18-point lead into a nine-point deficit.

The feeling is a familiar one. 

The Celtics, over the past five seasons have developed an uncanny ability to blow significant leads in the second half of playoff games, and extend series that they should be closing out early.  The fact that the Celtics lose playoff games that keeps me up at night, honestly.  If the Sixers had whooped the Celtics all night I would have slept like a baby.  It's how they manage to lose the games that haunts me, and every Celtics fans.  They look like world beaters for 30 minutes before turning into a plodding, stagnant, turnover-prone mess in the final minutes of the game. The ball stops moving, the hero shots are heaved, and the opponents confidence grows.  Not because of any great successes of their own, usually.  The other team recognizes that if they just hang around, make some shots, pick up some fouls, there is a chance the Celtics will hit one of these dark patches of play and they can steal a win. 

What keeps me up at night isn't just the loss itself.  It's the loss of opportunity to shorten the series against a team you should, and most likely will defeat eventually anyway. Celtics fans will say, "don't worry about it, they'll win the series," but when your only goal is winning the championship, it isn't just how you win the series in the early rounds, its how fast you win it. Every extra game on the odometer for Paul Pierce, Ray Allen, and Kevin Garnett in this series, is one you can take off the back end of a series later in the postseason, should the Celtics move on.  Celtics fans know the importance of having that one last, good game in the tank. (See NBA Finals, 2010).  In Game 7 of against the Lakers, Boston had a 13-point second half lead before entering their most high profile and costly "dark patch," that ultimately cost them the NBA title.

2010 was the worst stretch but the plague started in this Celtics team's first playoff series together.

In 2008, the Celtics were a juggernaut in the regular season.  They needed the full seven games to dispatch the eighth seed Hawks in the first round.  They blew the Hawks out every game at home, and loss close contests in Atlanta.  Late in those games, the offense slowed to a halt, execution failed, and the Celtics turned winnable games into losses, and losses in to long series.  

I've given up trying to figure out how to fix these late-game lapses for the Celtics. The reasons can be different. One night Rondo stops attacking.  Another night the team switches to a zone and the Celtics can't attack it. Other nights the Celtics just can't make a shot.  Friday night, in my opinion, part of the blame goes on Doc Rivers, for not playing Brandon Bass in the fourth quarter.  Bass, who was six-for-ten in 22 minutes, was the only Celtic consistently scoring, and yet didn't see the floor as the Celtics couldn't buy a big basket down the stretch.  One of the most frustrating part of these dark patches are that they are most often self-inflicted.  The block is seemingly as much mental as physical.  The team goes away from match-ups that have worked all night. Players who have attacked all game go idle. A coach known for late game execution and play calling can't get his team a decent shot in the clutch.  It boggles the mind.

The reasons for the collapses vary, but what remains constant is the threat of impending doom that hangs over every Celtics playoff game.  The fear that one of the dark stretches could be just around the corner keeps every Celtics fan from ever dropping their guard, celebrating early, counting chickens.  The fact that I know it has happened so many times; that I know it's coming, that I'm even expecting it doesn't lessen the effect.  Doesn't ease the burning.  This team is too good and two experienced to allow themselves to give games away in the playoffs.  The question is are they now too old to keep getting away with it?

It's enough to lose sleep over.  

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The Boston Celtics begin their 2012 playoff push tonight in Atlanta against the Hawks. Boston's chances in the playoffs, once a laughable slim-to-none, have improved markedly in the last few weeks. Injuries to key players on opposing teams, the emergence of players thought to be towel waivers, and a resurgence of some of the team's older core have vaulted the Celtics in to contender consideration.

In Game 1 of their series against the Philadelphia 76ers yesterday, the Chicago Bulls suffered a significant blow to their title hopes when they lost the reigning MVP, Derrick Rose, for the remainder of the playoffs with a torn ACL. The Orlando Magic have already lost Dwight Howard for the season. That leaves an unproven Indiana Pacers team, the recently inconsistent Miami Heat, the Rose-less Bulls, and the Atlanta Hawks as potential road blocks to third Finals appearance for the new Big Three-era Celtics.

On the surface this should be good news to Celtics fans. Injuries are certainly unfortunate for the player, and on some level, the league. Celtics fans are more than familiar with the affect an injury to a top player can have on a potential championship bid (See Garnett, 2009). Nobody shed a tear for KG or Celtics fans in 2009. Like in 2009, the Eastern Conference playoffs have just become a little more of an open race. The Heat are decided favorites, no doubt, but it seems like they haven't improved any from last season. Some would say they are playing worse (30-point drubbing of the Knicks notwithstanding). With all of these factors seemingly turning things in the Celtics favor, the ability for Boston to sneak up on teams will disappear. And with heightened expectations, comes heightened anxiety for Celtics fans.

If I had gotten around to this post earlier, I would have written about how I believe the Celtics should beat the Hawks, and anything after that would be gravy. Should the Celtics make it to the second round I would have sat back on the couch and relaxed. Beaming at wins and shrugging off losses while taking the time to appreciate the best group of players I've watched (I was 3 in '86) as a Celtics fan finish their run in the playoffs. The basketball gods would not have this, apparently. If the Celtics beat the Hawks and the Bulls beat the 76ers, Boston would likely be favored against Chicago without Rose. Celtics fans would once again have to live and die on every shot. I wouldn't have it any other way.

Round 1 Prediction:

I believe this series will be more difficult than others, apparently.  Similar to their match-up in 2008, when every Celtics win was a blowout and every Hawks win was a close game, I think Boston will fail to close out some close games that will extend the series.  Boston will succumb to a few Joe Johnson late game heart breakers before finally closing out Atlanta on the road in the seventh game.  

If I was forced to predict the eventual fate for Boston I'd guess that they beat Chicago in seven in Round 2 and lose to the Heat in the Eastern Conference Finals in Game 7. 

The Boston Celtics stand on the precipice of their most difficult stretch of the season, coming off of one of their most successful.

The Celtics are 13-5 since the All-Star break and have seemingly come together after a trade deadline that came and went with nary a casualty. Experts both local and national predicted dozens of different scenarios to unfold at the trading deadline, but few if any predicted Danny Ainge and the Celtics to stand pat. While the jury will remain out on Ainge's to soldier on with the Big Four, in the short term it appears to be the right move.

The Celtics have been beating (most of) the teams that should be in the second half of the season; something that plagued them earlier in the year. The odor of losses to Phoenix, Cleveland and (ahh!!!) New Orleans remain ripe for Celtics fans. With their stinky start in the rear view mirror, the Celtics now have an opportunity show what type of team they can be in the playoffs, with eight consecutive games against solid teams.

LR: "Eww. It smells like cigarettes and regret." KL: "Come closer. You need to learn my scent."

Friday night the Celtics face the young, but talented Timberwolves in Minnesota. Wolves forward Kevin Love has been out of his mind recently. (And he has the ominous beard to prove it!) Love's second half numbers have people asking who was the better T-Wolf(ve?), Love or Kevin Garnett in his prime!  Out loud!  As crazy as that conversation may be to some, the fact that the scoring and rebounding numbers lend credence to the argument is astonishing in its own right.  And let's not forget that beard!  I'm enamored with how crazy he looks.  He's like a big, burly woodsman, but with a sensitive side.  Like if Paul Bunyan read poetry or organized a foliage themed book club.  The issue for the Celtics on Friday, however, is that Love can dominate them physically as much as he can follicle-y. If the Celtics are going to get out of Minnesota they need to make sure that they collectively out-rebound Love. 

The seven games following Minnesota are where the stretch gets extremely difficult.

Boston plays seven games in eleven days; four of which are at home, all of which are against playoff teams with better records. The Celtics face the first (Bulls), second (Heat), fourth (Sixers), fifth (Pacers), and sixth (Hawks) place teams in the Eastern Conference.  This stretch will determine whether or not the last few weeks represented a marked change in the team, a corner turned, or a fluky streak against the dregs of the NBA. 

The Celtics don't have to sweep this stretch, or even go 6-2, in order to prove to themselves that they are a worthy competitor in the East.  If the Celtics compete in six of the eight, and win four of the seven after Minnesota, I think it will show that they have a puncher's chance to make a deep run in the playoffs.  Remember, all you have to be is one game over .500 to win a playoff series.  The Celtics proved that against Atlanta and Cleveland in 2008, and came close in the 2010 Finals.  Now, if the four wins they get are against the Hawks, Pacers, Wolves and Sixers, we won't learn much.  Boston has to beat the Heat and/or Chicago to prove to themselves, and to the top two seeds, that they can beat the best teams in the NBA. 

These games aren't "must wins." They are five games ahead of the ninth place Bucks.  The Celtics are going to the playoffs now matter how impressive they play in the next few weeks.  What they do when they get there, however, may be foreshadowed by how they fare in the eight game stretch that lies ahead of them.

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The Boston Celtics left Los Angeles with a split in the back-to-back at the Staples Center. Any Celtics fan would take one of two on the road against quality competition, after a cross country flight. While I'm certainly not complaining about the overall result, I would have strongly preferred the inverse.

The Celtics lost a matinee game on Sunday against the Los Angeles Lakers after leading by five points with 2:47 left. The next two minutes were excruciating and familiar. Kobe Bryant hit some deep, contested three pointers, while the Celtics found little more than the rim at the other end. Particularly disappointing was the conclusion of a beautifully drawn up play that left Brandon Bass with the ball wide open in his office at the elbow. The shot rimmed out and the Lakers never looked back.

My biggest issue with the game wasn't the loss itself. Heading into the game I didn't give the Celtics much of a chance. The first game of a west coast road trip, early in the afternoon against a bigger, more talented team isn't exactly the recipe for success for an aging, ailing and undermanned team. My issue is that the Celtics had a better than good chance to win the game. After the first quarter I wasn't sure if the Celtics even wanted to be in the building? Was it jet lag? Were they hung over? Did Kendrick Perkins have another birthday party? Whatever it was, it seemed like the Celtics were going to fold up shop early. Sasha "White Flag" Pavlovic even mad an appearance early. The Celtics showed the gritty fight that has defined them since coming together in 2007 and fought back to claim a late fourth quarter lead against a better team. The last 2:47 played out like countless other games in the past few years; with the Celtics unable to connect on a single clutch bucket and me on my couch in the fetal position mumbling over and over, "if Perk played in Game 7, if Perk played in Game 7..."

If Bass knocks down the jumper and the Celtics get a stop on the other end, the Celtics take home what presumably will be the final match up against the Lakers as currently constituted, on a shot from a player who will play a part in the era to follow. It would have been a perfect punctuation (for Celtics fans) to a hard fought series between the two most dominant teams of the last decade. Instead, the Lakers win, Kobe boosts sales of creepy face masks, and all is wrong with the world.

Stranger still is the fact that the next night, on tired-er legs, the Celtics beat a younger, deeper team on the second night of a back-to-back after trailing late in the fourth quarter.

The contrast of the two games was interesting. The first played like a playoff game. The old guard, fisher, Kobe, Gasol, and Bynum battled hard for the win. There was no pretentiousness or mockery on the Lakers faces as they made the winning plays, but rather the giddy combination of exuberance and relief when you eek out a close win against a bitter rival. The disappointment on the Celtics sideline wasn't the resigned shrug-and-what's-for dinner looks you see after an off night in Detroit, but rather the exhausted realization that they left it all on the floor, played above their heads, and still lost the final showdown with a team that you've lost and won titles against.

The next night, against the next "hot" team in the league, was quite different. The Clippers, who have yet to win a meaningful game in the NBA, showed no respect for the Celtics. It was evident earlier that they thought they could push around Boston on the way to an easy victory. Blake Griffin, widely regarded as lovable and goofy off the court, and a high flying future super star on the court, looked to embarrass and intimidate the Celtics at every turn. He was called for a technical after trying to humiliate veritable nobody Greg Stiemsma. He got into it at different times with Rajon Rondo, Brandon Bass, and Mickael Pietrus. Griffin quickly backed down after Pietrus snapped around looking for a confrontation. I get that young, cocky teams take older, less flashy teams for granted, but I was truly surprised at the cheap, punk-y antics on display by one of the league's future stars. I was well aware of his gratuitous showboating after a solid dunk, but the cheap, hollow intimidation act came was an eye opener.

Oddly enough it was the Clippers decision to try and out-tough the Celtics that played right into Boston's hands, and led to a win. But at least Blake threw down a couple of a sick 'oops!

As a Celtics fan I am satisfied that they were able to win one of the two games in Los Angeles. I just wish the last time Pierce, KG, and Allen came together to "Beat LA," it was against the Lakers.