With their absolute obliteration of Atlanta in Game 7 today, the Celtics stayed alive in their run for the finals. But did they do enough to get back in the title conversation? Did the even ever leave the conversation?
They didn't leave Vegas's consideration. Even before Game 7, Bodog had Boston at 2/5 odds of winning the East. !!! The only team which hadn't advanced to the second round ... and they were still overwhelming favorites over the Pistons (5/2), Magic (7/1) and Cavaliers (17/2).
But can we forget Philips Arena so quickly? Boston had three shots to win on the road, and failed each time. Against the Hawks, who played magnificent basketball in spurts but is certainly several tiers worse than Detroit and Orlando. The Celtics couldn't stop Joe Johnson or Milk Williams during stretches ... LeBron James is coming to town Tuesday. Boston's team defense is spectacular 80-90% of the time, and looked as such in Boston's four home wins. In Atlanta? It was middling at best.
No one would disagree that Boston's path suddenly doesn't appear so certain. But a good chunk of the population seems to agree this series was more of a blip than an indictment. We'll see.
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Reader Comments ( Page 1 of 2)
1. I don't think you can really consider this a "blip." You have to ask - would the Spurs have let this series go seven games? Would the Lakers? Would the Hornets or Jazz? Championship-calibre teams get the job done. And winning a Game 7 blowout doesn't count as getting the job done when you have no business playing a Game 7 in the first place.
Posted at 3:58PM on May 4th 2008 by Chad
2. I agree Chad. Of course they will be back in the title conversation because the sports world has a short memory. The Celtics should be concerned how this series played out. You can say what you want about the Suns and Mavs, but they lost to the defending champs and the #2 seed. The Celtics almost lost in the first round to a team that won 37 games. If the Celtics wouldn't have had home court, they might be out already. A championship team can win anywhere if need be. I can see dropping one game on the road, but 3? In the first round of the Playoffs? That's ridiculous. Considering LeBron is better then the entire Hawks team, the Celtics will have their hands full.
Posted at 4:14PM on May 4th 2008 by anny
3. Yes, I agree as well Chad. They had no business even playing a game 7 against a team that won 37 games in the East. Just watching them celebrate and whoop it up during the game today made me laugh more than a few times.
Posted at 4:43PM on May 4th 2008 by alejandro de Castro
4. I agree with you people. If this next series goes 7 games Boston will be dead meat, they are not a young team. KG will be using a cane, Pierce will be using a walker and poor old Sam will be on life support.
Posted at 5:13PM on May 4th 2008 by the cooker
5. The thing that should concern Boston is the fact that they couldn't win on the road. If they lack the intenisty necessary to beat Atlanta on the road, they won't make it past Detroit or maybe (just saying) the Cavs.
Posted at 5:23PM on May 4th 2008 by tom
6. A VERY GOOD BLOG GUYS. FINALLY EVERYONE MAKES SENSE...............SMILE.
Posted at 5:24PM on May 4th 2008 by Phil
7. If the Celtics don't start winning road games in the playoffs their dream match in the finals against the Lakers will be a gone pecan. Maybe they took the Hawks too lightly and will get their act together versus the Cavaliers.
Posted at 5:59PM on May 4th 2008 by George B Vieto
8. Easy guys...listen they won the series and a few of the games were absolute blowouts..
I don't think you can jump all over them because of a couple of blips in this series..Talk about short-term memory..
Let's not hand them the championship but sunny days are ahead..Keep a happy thought :-))
Posted at 6:09PM on May 4th 2008 by Sean
9. well...since their road macho has been weighed, measured and found wanting...all the Cavs or Pistons need to do is steal one in boston...and they're toast...
Posted at 6:35PM on May 4th 2008 by g
10. Yes Sean, the games they won at home were blowouts, but they still lost 3 on the road to a 37 win team. I am not saying they are done, but they aren't as much of a sure thing as I thought.
Posted at 6:38PM on May 4th 2008 by anny
11. Home and away record:
HOME: 35 6 .854
AWAY: 31 10 .756
That looks pretty good to me..Spectacular even. Let's not jump off the bandwagon yet. Keep the cynics on talk radio.
Enjoy the ride..I'm onboard
Posted at 6:43PM on May 4th 2008 by Sean
12. I'm not a Celtics fan Sean. Yes, they had a great regular season, but the Playoffs aren't the regular season. I think this series proved that. Again, I am in no way saying the Celtics are done, but they are definitely beatable. More beatable then I previously thought.
Posted at 7:56PM on May 4th 2008 by anny
13. It's all in the refereeing. If they let them play the Celts would have won in 5. Give the Hawks 72 more free throw attempts in the first 6 games? No wonder the Hawks won 3 of them.
Almost every time the Celts played like they always do stepping in front of guys going to the hoop, bodying up on the perimeter, and blocking shots near the hoop they were whistled for fouls against the Hawks. Had the refs made the same calls against the Celts in the regular season they'd have won perhaps 48 games.
I watched all the Celts-Hawks games this year on tv and they played no differently against each other in the playoffs than the regular season. Boston drove to the hoop a lot--specially Rondo--and rarely got fouls called on the Hawks.
I believe the NBA wanted this series extended blowing the whistle repeatedly against Boston as in the playoffs the refs are supposed to let them play more......till game 7 when they finally let them play. Boston had 19 foul shot attempts to the Hawk's 16. Nuff said about Atlanta.
Celts are in good shape from here on out as there's no other fast, young, athletic drive to the hoop team left with Washington getting eliminated--the rest just play basketball which is fine with the Celts.
Bill
Posted at 8:15PM on May 4th 2008 by Bill
14. Sorry, Bill, but of all the crazy "the NBA is fixed" conspiracy theories out there, the idea that the league actually wanted to extend the Celtics' series against the Hawks is the most absurd I've heard in a while. If anything, the NBA would have loved to see Boston sweep Atlanta and get closer to the Lakers-Celtics final that supposedly everyone is dying to see.
Regardless, a few extra whistles one way or the other can't explain away the fact that Boston was more than 25 points worse per game on the road. They won every game at home by an average of 25 while going 0-3 on the road. That's a HUGE disparity, and it can't be shrugged off. Like Anny, I'm not arguing the Celtics are done. But they certainly aren't a sure thing to come out of the East anymore, let alone win it all.
Posted at 10:09PM on May 4th 2008 by Chad
15. Thank you Chad. I didn't know how to approach that comment without being rude.
Posted at 10:28PM on May 4th 2008 by anny
16. What people gotta remember, in dissing the "37 win" Hawks, is that the playoff Hawks weren't the same team as the regular season Hawks. For one thing, Woodson played his starters and 6th man Childress for the entire series. Which means...not only were the starters as follows: F 2nd pick overall in 2005 Marvin Williams, F Josh Smith 17th pick overall ijn 2004 right out of high school, C Horford 3rd pick overall in 2007 behind Kevin Durant, G Joe Johnson, G Bibby, with 6th man G-F Childress 6th overall in 2004....but the 2nd team were the same problems. Obviously, they could never have played JUST that rotation all season in the regular season....and this 7th game proved that they couldn't sustain it for too long in the playoffs. But it worked for a while, anyway.
Now the Hawks go into the draft with zero picks, having traded them away to get that six man rotation (specifically, four players plus the second pick for Bibby and their first as part of the Joe Hohnson trade). The Hawks were built for this year (no matter what they might have said publicly)...and didn't do squat.
Posted at 10:34PM on May 4th 2008 by billybob
17. There's no way to explain Hawks-Celtics playing similar ball in regular season as in the playoffs against each other then have 6 games of enormous foul discrepancies. Hawks taking 72--that's 72--more foul shots through 6 games than Boston. Celts never would have swept the Hawks in the regular season had the officiating been the same as we just saw.
The only well officiated game was the last one--34 point Celts win.
And of course the Celts are no lock--however, I like the rest of the matchups going forward besides the Jazz.....hope the Lakers knock them out. No team remaining has the team speed, athleticism, and will relentlessly go to the hoop as Atlanta did.
Cavs tend to stand around watching LeBron go one on one. They don't have the team speed up front to create the same matchup problems as Horford, Smith, and Williams did on the road. Cavs are a good team but Celts will match up better against them than Atlanta. Forget the records, basketball is a game of individual matchups. Jazz would have an easier time with New Orleans than the Lakers as LA matches up well with them.
Bill
Posted at 10:49PM on May 4th 2008 by Bill
18. In the NBA certain teams match up better with certain teams. The Celtics lack athletes. Atlanta has athletes. It is just that simple. The Cavs only have Lebron. The rest aren't athletic enough to challenge them the same way as Atlanta.
Posted at 11:46PM on May 4th 2008 by LB
19. I think Boston should be concerned and Doc Rivers should be canned for letting the Hawks take them to 7. However, that being said, Boston has the homecourt advantage throughout the playoffs the last time I checked and quite honestly they appear unbeatable there. If I were Boston, I wouldn't start worrying until someone comes into their house and beats them. Oh, by the way, the Hawks were a better team than their regular season record would indicate.....had they had Bibby the entire season on their roster, Atlanta would've been a 45 game winning team instead.
Posted at 11:47PM on May 4th 2008 by JKlicious99
20. Cavs will win it all. they have to, i morgaged my house.
Posted at 12:45AM on May 5th 2008 by agranon