Celts 16-0 vs the west?

[SPURSX3]

wonder, if they will be the Dallas of the East come playoff time...For some reason I don't see them beating the Pistons.   Although, I do have to wonder how our squad will do against them (should we make it to the finals) if we can't beat them without KG... hopefully we will be in a better position the next time they play here in SA.

[westkoast]

I just thought about that too.  Crazy!  Granted most of them have been at home so I doubt they will have such a flawless record come playoff time but still very impressive.

[Reality]

wonder, if they will be the Dallas of the East come playoff time...For some reason I don't see them beating the Pistons.   Although, I do have to wonder how our squad will do against them (should we make it to the finals) if we can't beat them without KG... hopefully we will be in a better position the next time they play here in SA.

  The calls were pretty much a joke, esp vs their guards and also on Fat Baby Shaq vs Tim Dunkar.
That won't happen in a 7 game series unless Collusion 2008 includes a guaranteed Laker-Celt matchup.
1 FT for Duncan thru almost the whole game as Pierce and pattycake Ray Allen were ushered to the line repeatedly Laker 2000-3 style.
Also to me, us minus Parker is just as much a disadvantage as them minus KG.  Hope Parkers bone spur heals completely, it's a key.
Findawg definitely cannot guard Pierce or any other athletic 3s irregarless of what luker and burntoast fabricate.
Pop went Smallballs almost the entire game.  If he is going to revert to that b.s. it's over.  He might be saving it for the playoffs tho, Pop is good about not showing the Spurs hand in reg season.
Tough loss, but I'm not that discouraged.
Supermanu had some clutch plays Manu style.  Did you catch the behind the back dribble fadeawy jumper +1?  Sweet.  Pulled us within one a couple times.

[WayOutWest]

LOL! Not even a Celtics/Spurs thread is safe around here!   

[rickortreat]

 

Face it, the Celtics are the best team in the league right now.  By comparison Detroit is only 12-7 vs. the West.

We have yet to see the Celts against the newly retooled Lakers or Suns, however, and things could be very different later on in the season.

Finally, we have a year where no one is sure if the champion will be from the West or the East!

[Reality]

Yeah they are good and the team to beat in the East.

But key point is now.  Lots of time before now and Finals.
NBA, NFL, even MLB a schooche seems like more and more Wildcards or teams with much less then the best record in the leagues are winning the titles while those with the best reg season records are tanking.  Phx has certainly figured that out. 
"Flip the switch Spurs" is fine with me but Smallballs offense has got to go excepting when it matches the opponent.  Didn't work on Boston today.
Finley is already looking in 3 pt form.   

[westkoast]

Face it, the Celtics are the best team in the league right now.  By comparison Detroit is only 12-7 vs. the West.

We have yet to see the Celts against the newly retooled Lakers or Suns, however, and things could be very different later on in the season.

Finally, we have a year where no one is sure if the champion will be from the West or the East!

You won't see them against the Lakers as they already have played twice this year.

[SPURSX3]

well, like I said, I think they might be the "Mavs" of this season, all show and then come playoff time they fall, atleast I can hope that that happens..

[westkoast]

well, like I said, I think they might be the "Mavs" of this season, all show and then come playoff time they fall, atleast I can hope that that happens..

Chances are they see New Jersey or Washington.  I think the Wiz have their number for whatever reason but the NJ match up is heavily in their favor.  I don't know if the Nets turn into the Warriors East haha

[WayOutWest]

I think KG will get them past everyone in the East with the exception of the Pistons.  The Mavs have Dirk so that explains alot for them come playoff time.

[rickortreat]

Yeah they are good and the team to beat in the East.

But key point is now.  Lots of time before now and Finals.
NBA, NFL, even MLB a schooche seems like more and more Wildcards or teams with much less then the best record in the leagues are winning the titles while those with the best reg season records are tanking.  Phx has certainly figured that out. 
"Flip the switch Spurs" is fine with me but Smallballs offense has got to go excepting when it matches the opponent.  Didn't work on Boston today.
Finley is already looking in 3 pt form.   

Low ranking playoff teams don't win in the NBA or NHL.  You might get lucky in a game or two, but no one wins a best of 7 unless they're the better team.  GS knocked Dallas out of the playoffs and everyone was impressed until they went to the next round.  Last year the East was so weak a one-man show got Cleveland to the finals,  where they were clearly overmatched by the Spurs.

The Best Record doesn't always translate into titles, but it helps if you have home court advantage. And teams with the best record usually do very well in the playoffs even if they don't get to the finals.  When there is more parity in the NBA, you see the same teams ending up with the best records, and you can measure the progress of the team below the best one in the division by seeing their improvement in their record.

The last few years have shown how close other teams are to overcoming the Spurs.  Two years ago Dallas beat them, and last year Phoenix gave them a good run. The Spurs may be better, but their edge is small- The Suns may have moved ahead of them now with their trade.  The Spurs need to be concerned with matchups - I would think they'd like to avoid playing the Mavericks until as late in the playoffs as possible.

In any case, the Celts will finish on top in the East, barring injuries... Detroit may have another run in them, but they are the old team like the Spurs.  Age eventually ends a team's dominance, as one key role player or two's skills diminish to the point where they can no longer perform.  You don't see evidence of it during the regular season, but in the playoffs where each player on the team tends to be a higher level player it shows very quickly.

[Reality]

The Best Record doesn't always translate into titles, but it helps if you have home court advantage.

Correcto.  I did a stat analysis on this, it's on the board somewhere.
Best Record in reg resulted in Championship about 38% of the time the last 25 years if memory serves me right.
However home court advantage in Finals did produce the winner i think about 65-70%.

Celts besides the 39-9 record, the losses have been hard fought (at least in points).
Of 9 losses:
1 OT
1 by 1
3 by 2
1 by 3

Thats 6 games total by 3 pts or less.

[Reality]

Can the Celts get passed Orlando?  ORL  leads 2-1.
W 104-102
L 103-91
W 96-93

Can a healthy functioning Orlando team challenge Boston in the playoffs?

[Lurker]

Not any more.  Back to back losses in Denver and Oakland.  With KG back.  So much for breaking the 72 win barrier.  Maybe they aren't as invincible as everyone (media whores and leastern conf afficiados) was claiming.