Impossible Road II

Somehow my 15-5 prediction still lives as now the Celtics only need to win four more to make this come true. Let's say the Celtics are able to win four out of their last five, and my prediction comes to fruition; then what can be said about the playoffs? In thirteen days the 2009 NBA Playoffs will begin and the Celtics will again be granted an easily winnable first round series. Last year they faced no real adversity all year and were not accustomed to playoff basketball which led to difficulties in the first round. This season they will have had the benefit of a championship and an entire additional season to build upon team experience end chemistry. You will not see an inability to win on the road or a first round scare, but will you see another championship? This year's Celtic team is better than the group who won it all, but so is the competition. Stephon Marbury and Mikki Moore are not as good as the combination of James Posey, PJ Brown, and Sam Cassell, however the improvements in the play of Leon Powe, Glen "Big Baby" Davis, Rajon Rondo and Kendrick Perkins greatly outweigh the off season losses. The Celtics may be a better team this year, but they will finish with a worse record than last year's and very well may not win another title. The competition in the Eastern Conference this season is vastly superior when compared to last year's and this creates for a more treacherous road through the playoffs. 

The Celtics will face the 76ers or Bulls in the first round and will handle them with ease, but again what happens when you expend so much energy getting past Orlando and there is nothing left for Cleveland? The only hope to save enough energy for the Eastern Finals is to win the first two series in an efficient fashion, say eight to ten games and not fourteen. Last year's championship run was the longest in NBA history as it took twenty six games to finally earn their league best seventeenth NBA title. With Garnet's questionable knee, and many others returning from injury the Celtics can use all the rest possible. I still believe the Celtics can reach and win the NBA finals, but it is going to be a task as close to humanly impossible as can be. The 2009 Eastern Conference Finals will be between the Cleveland Cavilers and the Boston Celtics. At this time the Big Three and company will face their greatest challenge, as they will engage an inspired Lebron James in hostile territory. The Cavs have been no less than dominant at home this year; posting at 37-1 record they look to match the home court mark of 40-1 done so by the 1985-86 champion Boston Celtics. If the current Celtic group can arrive at the Eastern Finals healthy and rested, then prepare yourself for an epic series. A series in which either team could stumble away with victory, but not before a battle of defensive intensity, clutch shooting, and unlikely heroes.