Stop And Take A Breath

We're here, man. This thing is all tied up, and two of the remaining three games are being played in the Garden. It's incredible. I don't mean to say that this is going to be easy. In fact, the Celtics may not advance. But, right now, they are going home and they are knocking on the doors of the EASTERN CONFERENCE FINALS. If you can't appreciate what this team is doing, then there's no way you've been a sports fan for very long. You haven't seen countless talented and healthy teams underperform when it finally mattered, and you obviously haven't had to make injury excuses for your team very much. What this team has put together during this postseason has been special, even if they don't make it as far as we hoped when the year began.

Let's think about this situation:

First and foremost, I will not accept any comparisons of the injury situations between these teams. I know Jameer Nelson was an all-star this year, and I know that point guard is "a key spot" (although I hate hearing that, because I think it applies more to football. Aren't all spots key in a 5 man game?). But, the Magic traded for a guy who had been a very productive starting point guard for a contender in the West. So, the loss is minimal. Even if they hadn't made the move, the impact of Nelson comes nowhere near the impact of KG.

Before the game tonight, Ian Thomsen said that the Boston defense was impacted by KG's absence in the same way that the Lakers would be impacted all around if they were without Kobe. I really believe that. We're talking about the best player on the team, the 2008 defensive player of the year, one of the league's top rebounders, the best pick and roll defender in the league, and a guy who would have matched up particularly well with Rashard Lewis. You simply should not be able to lose a guy like that and win a playoff series. But, we're here.

After Leon Powe went down, the Celtics really should have been in trouble. There is no way they should be able to match up with Orlando. They don't have enough front line depth to handle Dwight Howard. There aren't enough bodies to take the fouls. But, we're here.

The Celtics had 2 points from the bench tonight. 2. It's virtually nothing. It's pathetic. But, it's about par for the course during this postseason. Eddie House had a bit of a hot streak going over the past 3 games or so, but over the course of these playoffs, the bench production has been virtually nonexistent. The problem, of course, being that the bench guys we were looking to are either hurt or playing a starter's role. You should not be able to win a series against a good team when you're this thin, and you certainly shouldn't make the conference finals. But, we're here, and we could be there soon.

In order to win in these circumstances, your superstars have to turn in great performances every night. That hasn't really happened. In fact, both Paul Pierce and Ray Allen have turned in some pretty heinous performances throughout these playoffs. Both guys had to play more minutes at a higher level throughout the last quarter of the season to lift their team to the 2 seed in the East, and the adverse effects of that have been particularly evident in Pierce's game. When your bench gives you nothing and your starters are inconsistent, you shouldn't win a single playoff series, but we're here.

Look, these things just don't happen. It takes something more than talent to overcome the kind of breaks that this team has caught. Young guys like Glen Davis don't just step up some day and start hitting huge shots. The effect that Kevin Garnett has had on him has been evident throughout this entire series. It takes something special, something you don't see in every team, from both the coaching staff and the players. I have felt privileged to watch this team ever since they tipped off last season. My appreciation for them has continued to grow ever since that moment, and this postseason has not changed that in any way. In fact, it's hard to imagine me appreciating them more than I do now.

I have no idea what will happen over the next three games. But, I do know that there are only eight teams still playing, and the Celtics are one of them. Soon, there will only be four teams playing. With two of the three remaining games being played in Boston, there is a great chance that the Celtics will be one of those four. Regardless of what happens the rest of the way, when I consider everything that has happened, there is no way that I will exit this season feeling like this team let me down.


Good night everyone, and remember, let a stranger drive you home: