Which Celtics team do you remember when you look back on the last 12 months? The one that streaked, sputtered and limped into the postseason as a No. 4 seed in the Eastern Conference, or the one that went all the way to Game 7 of the NBA Finals, minutes away from their 18th championship? Undoubtedly, it's the latter. But which team will show up next fall. Or, in other words: Will the Celtics go hard in the regular season, or save it for the playoffs?
If you're a Celtics fan that watches this team from the opening tip in October to the final buzzer in June, it's maddening that this question even has to be asked. If you watch the Celtics in action in a big game, you know what they're capable of. They have the talent, the depth and the savvy to beat anyone, anytime, anyplace. If only they applied themselves the same way in November that they do every spring.
It's a two-pronged problem for the Celtics: Many of them would routinely take overly cautious measures for even the most minor injuries, sitting out a week for a bruise or a sore foot. And then even when they did play, their minutes were monitored closely and their effort on the floor was reined in. The Celtics made sure they weren't going too hard for their own good.
You could witness the Celtics' attitude toward the regular season in their play. It was plain to see.
Rasheed Wallace played like anything but a 6-foot-11 big man. He would jog back and forth from 3-point line to 3-point line, casually flicking up jumpers and occasionally contesting a shot when an opposing player would do the same. Sheed wasn't playing his position — he was going through the motions.
Paul Pierce, who made a career out of being a fearless offensive player, barreling into traffic and drawing contact, became more tentative. Being a spot-up jump shooter has always been easier than being a basket-attacking offensive force, and when you're 32, you tend to take the easy way out. This year, Pierce relied on his mid-range game to get by.
Kevin Garnett was a serviceable starting power forward, but he wasn't the same dominating KG who carried the Celtics to a title in 2008. He wasn't a consistent post presence on both ends — he, too, was more of a jump shooter than ever before, and at times he seemed afraid to crash the boards the way he once did.
It wasn't until the postseason that all of these bad habits were fixed and the Celtics played to their potential. That's when you saw them steamroll Miami, vanquish Cleveland and Orlando, and nearly topple the defending champion Lakers in the Finals. But it sure took them a while to reach that level.
When you have an old team, that's the way it works. Piling up wins isn't your main priority — conserving your energy is.
And maybe that's OK.
How does the old cliche go? A season is a marathon, not a sprint. And leading after the first mile never did anyone any good.
The Celtics are still capable of playing at a championship level. But they're not going to do it for 82 games, and we just have to accept that from the start.
Maybe in Miami it'll be a running and gunning circus every night. But here in Boston, we'll all have to be resigned to another year of starting out in first gear and hitting full speed later, when it really matters.
NESN.com will answer one Celtics question every day in July.
Thursday, July 29: Will Danny Ainge make a splash with a midseason trade?
Saturday, July 31: What is the Celtics' goal — winning now, or making plans for down the road?
