Celtics still a force in the East

     The allure of history was an unmistakable force. No NBA team has ever hiked up the hill from a 3-0 deficit to win a seven-game playoff series. In general it's a rarity in sports. Fittingly, in 2004, the Boston Red Sox did it blasting back the New York Yankees for the upset.

     Last week the Boston Celtics looked poised to potentially overcome the New York Knicks when they Tarzaned back from the no-win hole to take Game 4 in Boston and Game 5 in New York. "We out here scrappin'," Kevin Garnett exhaled, spraying sweat onto the post-game reporter. "We out here scrappin'."

     Game 6 came and went. The sea of green in the TD Garden just wasn't enough to fuel the Celtics to another victory. It wasn't even really close and just like that the series was over, just another unturned page of history. Another offseason beginning for another team, this one, for the Celtics, just started a little early. Since the signing of KG and Benedict Allen in 2008 team green had always broke through the first round with ease.

     Now with post-game press conferences done and exit interviews complete, it befuddles me why talks of the modern Celtic greats disbanding are immediately thrown into the barking conversation. It makes no sense. I understand people talk and this season wasn't the greatest and trade rumors were bulbous near the deadline, but couldn't the same be said for a lot of teams? In a season that saw the loss of Rajon Rondo (ACL), Jared Sullinger (back), and Leandro Barbosa (ACL), all in quick succession of each other, it would seem the unfortunate circumstances are more of a temporary stopgap, rather than the unraveling of a cherished franchise. 

     Sure, they had their problems beyond the inconvenient injuries. Jason Terry and Courtney Lee proved not quite the eligible replacement hoped for in the aftermath of that guy who left for beach side property. Paul Pierce started to show his age. Brandon Bass and Jeff Green gave some incredible performances but were spotty throughout, never falling into a groove. But, my God, they're still a great unit with the league's best coach in Doc Rivers. And they exist in a pretty weak conference.

     I get it. KG and Pierce will be older next year, but so will most of the Knick bench. Why would Danny Ainge shuffle these legendary pieces around? Garnett, who, up to this point, leads the playoffs in rebounds with 13.7, is under contract through 2015 and he won't leave unless he agrees to the destination. Pierce is on the books for next season (though with a player option), as is Avery Bradley. Every other major player is signed, at least, through 2015.

     Furthermore, and most importantly, all evidence points to a Rondo return by the start of training camp. Even with missing the last third of the season he still lead in assists with 11.1 (Chris Paul was two steps behind with 9.7). The wiliest point guard to grace the hardwood will be back setting up an ace supporting cast. There's no lessening of Celtic energy here. Who says you have to make a splash in the offseason every offseason? A summer to recharge and a fresh training camp can only create great cohesion and produce a stronger core for next season. KG and Pierce need to spend some time with their feet elevated, ankles iced, letting the blood flow, but there's no doubt this team will still compete, as is, like gruff wildebeests in a season of cold-hearted revenge and bounteous redemption.

NBA PLAYOFFS: Boston Celtics

          Now my biases will really spread to the surface. There has been no team more exciting to watch than the Boston Celtics in these playoffs, and no series more adrenalized than the Eastern Semi-Finals, which the Celtics took from the Philadelphia 76ers last night in Game 7. But let us not kid ourselves: it was always theirs for the taking. A hard-fought, panting battle with a team sure to implant themselves in the playoffs for years to come, it was Age & Experience vs. Youth & Excitement; but, in the end, it was a cherished victory written in green.

          Not only was the game streaming to me live online, but so was the suffocating fatigue of the Celtics. I could smell the old. But in the face of it, it’s the old, the experience, the cohesion that has kept this team pummeling through the post-season. I’ve got love for the 76ers, but this is not a changing of the guards. This is a lasting blast of grit in the eye of competition. KG was looking tired, almost dropping and sinking through the earth, bringing planks of TD Garden hardwood with him. Ray Allen’s ankles were smoldering, keeping him gated. With about five minutes left in the game Paul Pierce fouled out in a play that could’ve fully switched momentum towards the 76ers, but, as he begrudgingly took a seat on the bench, it was Rajon Rondo, the real star, who put Gang Green on his back.

          When the 76ers backed off him to clog the paint, Rondo held on to the ball and put two clean three-pointers in the hoop with the shot clock running down. He saw the KG screens setting Allen free and set him up for two three-pointers, causing a rumbling sigh of relief to blanket the city. Allen had been cold the whole series, battling injury and regaining his starting status only because Avery Bradley went down with a busted shoulder. Rondo was the magic man, the deliverer, the gift-giver, the shaman. He injects his team with an energy serum when they need it most. Oh and by the way, last night he fell into a category previously occupied by only Larry Bird: Celtics players with triple-doubles in Game 7. History reforms.

          Now we get what we’ve wanted this whole time: The Miami Heat. In just about every game during the season, the Celtics ran through the Heat like hot sauce and ice cream runs through your grandfather. The Heat have a Bosh-sized hole they’ve been trying to cram with wads of Turiafs and Anthonys and I don’t see it working. I’ll take your two superstars and raise you another two. Let’s battle.

NBA PLAYOFFS: Kobe Bryant

"I'm not fading back into the shadows," L.A. Lakers’ guard Kobe Bryant said to the post-game media after falling to the Oklahoma City Thunder in the Western Semi-Finals. No smile. No hesitation. Stone faced, dead-eyed. A loss for Bryant is never the end; it’s only the next step to winning.

I am forever a die-hard, by-the-gravestone Phoenix Suns fan. Therefore, a large chunk of my competitive hatred is saved for the Lakers and always will be. It warms my belly to watch them stutter and fail in those big Hollywood lights. The Suns and Lakers have historically been a playoff match-up almost as much as the storied Celtics/Lakers or Celtics/76ers rivalries. Bryant publicly decried his personal vendetta against Phoenix for reasons he couldn’t explain. The Lakers are pure enemies in Phoenix, falling in stature behind only the San Antonio Spurs (of course). You don’t talk to the guy strolling in purple and gold wearing number 24 because you’d have nothing nice to say to him.

I cannot, however, for the pure devotion to basketball, disrespect Bryant's will. There is no other player like him in today's high-fiving, re-tweeting circus, who plays every minute only to win, and who will do whatever it takes (see: German blood exchange; playing with broken finger; dealing with Metta World Peace) to win. Only Kevin Garnett matches (and rises above) him in intensity, but Garnett's a different animal entirely. Bryant is a true basketball player who lives life without distraction and remains focused on the goal. He’s not opening his thoughts to the public and making decisions on the fly so the press can have their field day. He’s stealth. He works hard and gets results and those five rings stand unquestioned. This league rarely puts out a player with that strong insane sense of determination that can put a shiver in your spine. The locker room must’ve been a cold, hard place after that game. They lost to a young team exploding with confidence and diligence, but the Lakers will still linger next year and, so long as Bryant’s still around, they’ll continue to be a viable threat. Ahem. But, next year, that Chump gon' be blinded by purple and orange in the playoffs.

NBA PLAYOFFS: Miami Heat

There is no “team” in Heat, though it's close. Rather, all you get is “he at,” as in, “Where the fuck he at?”

The “he” on any given night could be LeBron James, it could be Dwayne Wade, or it could represent the entire Miami Heat bench. Who are they and what are their roles? The bench (Chris Bosh's cawing ass included) are there only to beef up the two-headed, swamp-soaked egos of their two "perennial All-Stars." Well, here is it: Fuck the Miami Heat.

Nobody outside of Miami, Florida is rooting for this team. They had the privilege of letting loose on an even more disgruntled team in the New York Knicks for the opening round and now find themselves down 2-1 against the fresh Indiana Pacers in the Eastern Semi-Finals. When you get past the glitz and drama, the Heat are really not very threatening. They're nothing but a bunch of scallywags lumped together to give their two too-cool-for-you leaders a strong whiff of self-importance. Everybody is just trying so hard to please Lebron & Wade; you can see it all over their concerned faces as they tilt toward them in huddles. It’s like they’re watching their best friend go through a mental breakdown and they’re not sure how to comfort them. It makes one sick.

I can just picture each of their sorry asses in the locker-room. Joel Anthony contemplating shaving his head but stubbornly seeking Leron's approval first; Mario Chalmers has Dwayne Wade's words of wisdom echoing in his head, "OK Mario, be like 3D"; crusty Mike Miller just licks his lips stammering in the background; Juan Howard doesn't want to stand; Ronnie Turiaf constantly tries to make Lebron and Wade laugh with unfunny dead-end jokes; Haslem wishes he could kill them both; Mike Bibby (Oh whoops, forgot he went to the Knicks) and Chris Bosh is injured (so who cares). What a team, right?  It's Lebron & Wade and their band of undistinguishable cast-off lackeys and they're looking like cattle in mourning right now. “Aw, what do we do? We’re supposed to be the best.” I mean c’mon, they brought in Ronnie Turiaf to help fill the center void. That’s like calling on the guy who brings the shopping carts in to conduct a meeting with the chain’s top advisers. Watching the Heat’s lopsided, ego-driven, flat-lining rhythm collapse makes it all the more pleasing to see them get beat by a very well-rounded team in the Pacers. Either way; IT’S GON' BE A GRINDHOUSE.