No nonsense about the Bulls, please

People have this all backwards. It's not all about the Celtics. A lot of this is about the Bulls.

Could the Celtics have played better in Game 1? Well, sure. But even with Ray Allen going 1 for 12, they win that game if Paul Pierce hits the second free throw, and the discussion is totally different. It's "oh, we dodged a bullet."

That won't be the only bullet the Celtics need to dodge. These Bulls are frighteningly talented. Don't people do any homework?

The team Chicago put on the floor Saturday afternoon had six first-round draft picks. It had six top-10 picks. It had four top-four picks.. It had a No. 1 pick named Derrick Rose. There would have been yet another Top 10 if Lual Deng had not gone out with a season-ending injury.

Susan Boyle's not the only person on the planet with talent.

The Bulls finished the season on a roll. They had beaten the (Garnett-less) Celtics the last time they played them, and in that game John Salmons, the lowest of all their No. 1s (26th), had 38 points. The Celtics certainly knew this was going to be a challenging series.

The Bulls looked very much like the Hawks of a year ago, only better. That's because they can bring veterans such as Brad Miller and Kirk Hinrich off the bench.

That said, even with all that went on, the Celtics would have won with relative ease if Tyrus Thomas had not had an out-of-body experience. He is a Sky Pilot, not a jump shooter. But he hit his first jumper and never stopped. It couldn't happen, but it did.

You young'uns may not know it, but we've seen this phenomenon before, too. Back in the early '80s, the Celtics lost a home playoff game to the 76ers because Caldwell Jones hit five jump shots. Caldwell Jones was a Samuel Dalembert/Joaquin Noah type, a long, tall fellow whose game was defense, rebounding, blocking shots and all that stuff. You would, you know, never run a play for Caldwell Jones. But on this one inexplicable evening he was Larry Bird, knocking down jumpers. There's no explaining these things.

The Celtics must play better, and they will. I would expect them to eliminate those killer run-outs. I would expect them to move the ball better. And I would expect Ray Allen to make more than one 8-foot floater.

But don't make the mistake of putting it all on the Celtics. The Bulls have a lot to offer, starting with Rose. Noah and Thomas are an intimidating inside shot-blocking duo. Ben Gordon is a latter-day Microwave.

Philly's not too bad, either. They're going to make Orlando play.

It's called the playoffs. Calm down and enjoy the show.