Finals Bound?

I realize that I'm late with a Celtics series recap, but I've been double-checking my computer for two days to make sure I didn't miss something.  Is it really true that the Boston Celtics are the only team to advance to round two without losing a game?  The answer is 'yes'.  Only five days ago, that would've seemed highly unlikely.  This is the same team that after two games looked like they were going to go the distance against yet another average team.  We were wrong on both counts.  First, the Celtics decided to turn up the intensity once they arrived in New York and absolutely embarrassed the home team.  Second, to call the Knicks an 'average' team would not be fair to all those C students getting ready for college finals.  They were awful.  In fact, I would argue that there were a couple intramural teams at Stonehill College that could've beaten that Knicks team.  That's what made the first two games so maddening.  The Celtics were the superior team, but they insisted on playing down to the competition, which has been the norm for the past four post-seasons. Logically, how could the Knicks without Amare AND Billups stay competitive in Game 2, never mind lose in the final minute?  I have no answer.  All I know is that they were crushed on the boards which led to them getting crushed in second chance points.  I know that Carmelo played a great game, but one player shouldn't be able to keep a team alive like that.  He looked like Teen Wolf out there with Chubby being played by Ronny Turiaf.  Thankfully the Celtics forced the ball out of Carmelo's hands and KG came up with a huge steal to seal the victory.

The two victories in New York were amazing.  It's what Celtic fans have been waiting for all season.  They were defending.  They were moving the basketball.  Paul and Ray were hitting everything they threw at the hoop.  Rondo was simply playing at a different level.  The Knicks had no answer for him defensively and he took full advantage.  KG was a monster on both ends of the court and the bench, umm, well, the bench didn't play awful the whole time.  The bench is certainly the biggest question mark at this point.  They struggled more in this series than they have all year.  Big Baby was hesitant, Jeff Green was confused, and Delonte West had trouble dribbling.  It was quite the performance.

The question that I keep asking myself is if this team is capable of making a serious playoff run.  Can they duplicate last year and get back to the Finals?  To get an answer I decided to look at the stats from last year's first round match-up with the Heat and compare them to this year's series against the Knicks.  Here's the breakdown of the top 8 players (points-rebounds-assists).

                                            2010 vs. Heat:                    2011 vs. Knicks
                                          
Paul Pierce                            19-5-3                                 22-4-2  
Kevin Garnett                         16-9-2                                 15-11-3
Rajon Rondo                          13-6-10                               19-7-12
Ray Allen                               19-2-3                                 22-4-2
Glen Davis                              9-5-1                                    6-5-1

Kendrick Perkins                    6-8-1
Rasheed Wallace                    4-1-0
Tony Allen                              6-1-0
Jermaine O'Neal                                                                 5-4-1
Jeff Green                                                                          6-3-0
Delonte West                                                                     2-2-1


This seems like a fair comparison for the simple reason that the 2010 Heat and 2011 Knicks are the same team.  They had one talented scorer (Wade and Carmelo) and a group of role players to fill out the rosters.  Both teams sucked.  So what can we conclude from these two beat downs?  I think it's pretty obvious that this team has a chance.  Probably a better chance than Lloyd Christmas.  I know, I know, the rest of the East is better than last year, but they're also unproven.  The Celtics are an extremely tough match-up on the offensive end and they're still a top five defensive team.  I think they can beat the Heat, even without home court and I'll take my chances against the Bulls.  The most important difference between last year and this year is KG.  He looks better now than in '08 when they won the title.  It's shocking with all the miles on his body, but he's catching his 3rd or 4th wind.  I think the improvement of KG's game/health more than makes up for the increased competition in the East.  This same team that was left for dead two weeks ago is now the favorite to get back to the Finals and all it took was a little effort. Isn't it funny how that works?

Disclaimer:  No Shaq talk until he plays a damn game.