The Frustration Boils Over.

It's hard for me to even articulate why last night was so upsetting, and left me proclaiming loudly that "there is no god!" If Kevin Garnett and Leon Powe were healthy, I'd feel great. It would just be another typical series for this group. At full strength, I don't think anybody could beat the Cs in a game 7 in Boston. But, they're not, and that's why last night was unacceptable. After Sunday and Tuesday night, the Magic were on the ropes, and the Cs should have finished them off. Instead, they choked away a lead, let their foot of the Magic's throat, and let them back up. Now, it has become a one game series, and the Celtics are undermanned.

Yes, they'll have the crowd. Yes, they have the history (have never lost a series when leading 3-2), and they have all the intangibles and cliches that any fan would hope for. Those things make me optimistic. But, the fact still remains that without KG and Leon, they are taking a depleted front line in to bang with Dwight Howard. The fact still remains that without KG, Rashard Lewis is a huge mismatch for the Celtics. The fact still remains that, despite all the intangibles, they WILL NOT WIN if Ray Allen and Paul Pierce don't have better shooting nights. Glen Davis has had an incredible postseason, but wasn't he due for the trouble he had last night? He's a young player and we can't expect him to put up 20 and 10 every game. It's just not realistic. What happened in games 4 and 5 was memorable, but we can't expect it to be the norm. That's why they needed to put this one away. Instead, they wasted great performances from Rondo (save one horrendous inbounds pass) and Perk by playing spotty defense (minus one SICK scal block on Lewis down the stretch), missing free throws, and turning the ball over. It's hard to remember them ever playing a worse half in the postseason than the second half last night.

I am still confident in a Celtics win on Sunday. But, the longer this series goes, the more nervous I get. The Magic are incredibly talented, and I'm always worried about the Celtics finding themselves in early foul trouble. I will say this, I felt a lot better when I woke up to see that the Lakers had lost. Not because I hate them, but just because we're not the only ones.