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When will they lose?

E-mail|Link|Comments (6) Posted by Ian Rider November 3, 2009 09:56 PM

After the Celtics dismantled the Sixers Tuesday night, holding the highest scoring team in the Eastern Conference to 74 points and under 40 percent shooting, you won't have to come to the "Celtics Fan Blog" these days to read pundits talking about how dominant this team is, or how good this team can be. So I won't make you pour through 900 words about how this is the best team I've seen in over a decade. Which it is, by the way.

I'd rather take a look ahead at the Celtics' upcoming schedule and try and find the team that will beat Boston. The C's start their season in arguably one of their toughest scheduling stretches of the season, eight games in 12 nights. One of those games would be an obvious choice. No team could expect to sweep a stretch like that to begin a season. No team except this one. The personality of this team is one that rises to challenges. Two years ago they swept the Texas three-step (Dallas, San Antonio, and Houston consecutively on a road trip), a feat that is nearly impossible for a road team. They thrive on situations where they are set up to fail.

Another obvious choice is the marquee matchup on Nov. 20th with the revamped Orlando Magic, who look at this point like the second best team in the Eastern Conference. I would lean toward choosing this game as well, except that it is at home, and I think that the Celtics match up better with Orlando than most other teams in the league.

Saturday night in New Jersey may be a matchup between an unbeaten Nets team and a 7-0 Celtics team, setting up a Bizarro-world game where Scalabrine drops 27 points and the Celtics lose by 12. Frankly I don't see this happening, so scrap that.

The Suns and Jazz visit Boston in November, and while I think the Jazz game will play out similarly to the Hornets game, I think they'll pull it out. No matter what he says in the media, Rondo puts it in another gear against top-flight point guards. I also think that this team will be special at home.

My pick for the first Celtics loss will come in a letdown game. After going through the brutal 8-in-12 to start the season, they'll avoid close calls against the Suns and Jazz and face the Hawks at home at 9-0. The game will come down to some late-game heroics for the Celtics and they'll pick up an emotional win. After the game they'll hop on a plane to face an underachieving Indiana team on the second night of a back-to-back. Danny Granger will put up 40 and win a close one late, sealing it at the free throw line. The stunning loss will send the C's on a double-digit win streak with renewed furor.

Let me know in the comments section when you think the Celtics first loss will be.

Three thoughtful things...

Don't think it was a coincidence that just after I posted my case for the Celtics to sign Rondo, it was leaked that the team and Rondo's agent worked out a 5-year deal, because it wasn't! Mostly because the deal was already finished before I even started writing it. I wonder what it's like to have sources.

Shelden Williams had another great night, throwing up 11 points to go with seven rebounds. I had to mention him again because in my last post I threw him a shout out but he dropped it and it bounced out of bounds. Seriously, he's playing great though.

Brian Scalabrine made his first appearance of the season to the delight of the 13 fans still in attendance late in Tuesday night's game. The Scal chant was in full affect, and reached its zenith after the Big Ginger drained his first three-pointer of the year. It is amazing that our 12th man was logging crucial minutes (quality minutes, even I admit) in last year's postseason run. I don't think what that team was able to accomplish with the injuries and lack of depth last season can be understated.

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6 comments so far...

i think celtics might beat micheal jordan's record of 72-10. My prediction is 76-6. Frankly i can't see a team so far that can beat them. Lakers are playing horrible so far, Cavs need time to ajust to their line-up and orlando seems to have some problems with their roster. (rashard lewis with the steriod problems, howard injured,etc.). The only reason i give the 6 is because of two reasons.One is injury. You can never count that out. Second is back-to-back tiring games on the road. Celtics are nice and all but their not machines.

So yeah also i think Celtics will meet the Nuggets in the finals and take it this year.

Posted by Almir November 4, 09 04:52 PM

November 20 (Orlando)

Posted by Otis Walker November 5, 09 04:32 AM

I wouldn't quite go far Almir - with this Celtics team, I think it's all or nothing. I think they either set the wins record or fade into mediocrity, depending on the health of the team. I'd say this team wins 65-70 games, but I'd dock them 5-7 wins for each starter they lose (except Perkins, who has the most viable replacement at his position on the bench in Wallace; I think Wallace would make a better backup center than he would filling in for KG at power forward).

I think it's too easy to get overconfident about these Celtics, and I think it would be very easy for this team to get overconfident or become underprepared for opponents as the year progresses, even with all the veterans on the roster. Other teams who just started fielding lineups together in real games will improve as the year progresses and it's imperative if the Celtics are going to claim home-court and possibly the wins record that they also continue to improve over time.

Posted by Nick C. November 5, 09 08:21 PM

"...in my last post I threw him a shout out but he dropped it and it bounced out of bounds."

Puh-lease, hire a couple real writers!

Posted by CK November 6, 09 05:50 AM

Who really cares about the regular season win total? *70 wins* I think it's fun to speculate but I really care about how the C's matchup with the contenders in the post season. The NBA morphs into a very different game of basketball once the games really count. I'm psyched that the C's are off to a hot start but the reality is that the regular season is just a dress rehearsal for the "real season". I absolutely agree with Nick C's post that health is the #1 priority and the new additions have me very excited for our ability to get our big dogs some rest. The Big Ginger - I love it!! I'm going to the Nets/Celtics this Saturday - GO C's!!

Posted by SJerseyC'sFan November 6, 09 12:59 PM

Mea culpa. We have tampered with primal forces. The baseball community knows this (e.g. no-hitters in-progress). When will we learn.

Posted by Otis Walker November 7, 09 08:16 AM