Everyone can be deemed guilty for not believing the Boston Celtics at the beginning of the playoffs but honestly, who ever thought this team would be representing the Eastern Conference? Everybody was all over LeBron James and the Cleveland Cavaliers. Hell, I don't even like the Cavs but I still believed they would win the Eastern Conference. But lying like a snake in the grass was the Boston Celtics.
One of the things that amazed me is the Celtics took two games in Miami, which is about as easy as a stripper on a Friday night. Then they did the unthinkable by beating the best home team in the entire league... twice. After Game 2 of the Eastern Semifinals, everybody took notice that the Celtics are for real and they also took two from Orlando. They aren't afraid of the road and I personally believe they feed off being the bad guy (more to come on that later) so they relish being on the road, bad news L.A. The other big thing that people took notice is there is another kid on the block with the big three.
Rajon Rondo played like the best point guard in the NBA, and to think when the playoffs started, people probably would have picked five different point guards or more before listing Rondo's name. He is super quick and even if he doesn't score, he seems to find a way to make a difference with his passing or getting inside with rebounds. The Lakers are in big trouble facing a guy like Rondo. Even though, Derek Fisher is playing pretty well right now, I cannot see him making any difference on defense and I wouldn't bet anything they would be able to keep up with Rondo in a full seven game series.
Another thing that I don't know if the Lakers can keep up is the front line of the Celtics. People will discuss about how Kevin Garnett disappeared in the Magic series but look no further than Mr. Dwight Howard. I expect a big performance out of KG and it will be interesting to see how the Lakers respond to the powerful three of these guys. I had buddies bitching about the physicality that the Celtics get away and to me, I think they want people to hate their post players for the way they play basketball. They want to be the guys with the biggest balls on the court and nobody will mess with their team. That's why you see Paul Pierce and other running their mouth because they have their bodyguards to protect him.
I couldn't believe how good they played throughout the playoffs like they just had Jay-Z on repeat.. "On to the Next One." They just kept mowing teams down and didn't miss a beat whatsoever. The only time the Celts looked somewhat shaky was the two games they dropped to the Orlando Magic. I have yet to formulate an opinion on how this series will go but I know one thing, the Celts aren't afraid of the road or L.A. Game on.
-Charlie.
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