Don't count out the Celtics

You know, the NBA Playoffs are a funny thing. Why? Because it features the best of the best? No, that's not really funny. Because it offers breathtaking, high-flying plays? Well, that's not funny either. The funny thing about the NBA Playoffs is that anything can conceivably happen. A bench team scoring 54 points in a game to lead a team to victory? Check it off. A seldom used bench player exploding for 13 points in the 2nd quarter, providing a spark that his team desperately needed? Mark that one down. A 1 seed needing to rely on two tip-in shots to beat an 8 seed in the first round to clinch the series and to preserve their chances of making it back to the NBA Finals? That's what's funny.

Now, I'm not talking about funny ha-ha (nor funny queer), I'm talking about the definition of funny used in the sense of deviating from the usual or expected. See, everyone wrote down on their playoff brackets that the Cavs and the Lakers would set a date for the NBA Finals. Everyone wanted to see it, Kobe v LeBron, the two best in the game going at it. We were robbed of that happening last year thanks to Orlando, but Cleveland shored up it's weaknesses so they could beat Orlando this time around. Out in Hollywood, the Lakeshow prepared with the notion that the NBA championship was going to go through Cleveland. So they followed suit in the offseason, ditching previous postseason hero Trevor Ariza for the "battle-tested", hard-nosed defender Ron Artest (you know, if you believe battle-tested means going up into the stands and raging a battle against a group of fans). Hell, even Orlando made some changes to prepare for the Cavs and Lakers, not really for the better or worse, when they made the switch from Hedo Turkoglu to Vince Carter.

Written down on paper, it looked flawless. Shaq was going to plug the middle against Orlando and stop Dwight Howard, Anthony Parker was going to help with their perimeter game and Antawn Jamison was going to provide veteran leadership for the Cavs; all things they lacked the previous year. Ron Artest was going to provide the defense needed to slow LeBron so Kobe didn't have to exert his energy on the defensive end for the Lakers. Vince Carter was going to provide the scoring prowess and fill Orlando's need of a true go-to guy. Of course, everyone forgot about those pesky Boston Celtics.

While every other top team made off-season and mid-season acquisitions to better their teams for the ensuing playoff battles against the other top teams, one top team that was left out of the fold were the Celtics. How could teams forget? It's not everyday you see a past NBA champion walking around with the exact same nucleus, right? Well, that team won two years ago, and their three core parts are all two years older. Oh, and they didn't really do much during the season to warrant top-team status either.

But, the regular season largely doesn't matter in some areas. These Celtics are a playoff tested, veteran team. Two years ago their first three series all went to a game 7. Last year the two playoff series they played in both went to a game 7, losing that second series to the eventual Eastern Conference champs, the Orlando Magic. This is a team that played with a chip on their shoulder two years ago. Paul Pierce hadn't been able to bring the Celtics back to it's glory days, rightly so feeling shunned by the Boston die-hards. Likewise for Kevin Garnett and Ray Allen, two players who had never been able to claim a championship as the alpha-dog for their respective teams.

This year? Another chip has formed on their shoulders. People don't think that they can do it again. Nobody mistakes for what they did two years ago as a fluke, but now nobody thinks that they can win yet another championship. NBA fans thought of it as a passing of the torch kind of happening. Alright, the three old vets won their championship, finally got their rings, now it's time for the game to be taken over by LeBron and Dwight Howard and other younger players. Even this Celtics team is going through a passing of the torch moment with the three old dogs making way for Rajon Rondo, Glen Davis and Kendrick Perkins.

These three old dogs know though that one isn't enough. Not for Boston. Russell has all of his rings as well as Cousy and Havlicek. Bird's got his three rings. This current Celtics team knows the history. They also won't let just one banner commemorate their time as a Celtic. Especially for Paul Peirce, he knows that if he wants to be grouped in with the Birds and Havliceks, he's going to have to win at least one more ring. KG knows that his place in history will always be overshadowed by Tim Duncan's. Since Timmie D has 4 rings, KG knows he needs at least another one to at least spark a debate. But what about Ray Allen? Ray Ray's already one-upped his comparison in Reggie Miller, what more does he have to do? Ray's legacy is left for pride, and one more ring would greatly add to it.