Last year, the Celtics began the regular season 23-5 but collapsed, finishing it 27-27. This year? They waited a little longer, but the collapse came soon enough. The C’s started the season 46-15, looking like the class of the Eastern Conference, and they’ve since gone 9-11. It just wouldn’t be Boston without clam chowder, funny accents and late-season collapses in hoops.
The Celtics are playoff-bound, of course, but they’re limping their way in. After leading the Eastern Conference for most of the season, they’re now guaranteed to finish third, and it’s hard to realistically look at the C’s as the favorites right now for a return trip to the NBA Finals.
But let’s dive into seven thoughts on the Celtics’ situation with the playoffs days away.
1. The Celtics landed the No. 3 playoff seed on Monday night with a loss and a Miami win. Meanwhile, the 76ers lost to the visiting Magic, guaranteeing them the No. 7 seed. That means the Knicks are sixth, and they’ll play Boston in round one. New York versus Boston is known as an epic rivalry in baseball, and to a lesser extent on the gridiron these days, but the Celtics and Knicks have a long, storied history of their own. They’ve met in the East playoffs 12 times before, with each team winning six times. The rivalry began in 1951, with Bob Cousy and Harry Gallatin; it ended in 1990, with Larry Bird and Patrick Ewing. Now it’s back for lucky meeting No. 13.
2. In benching their starters Monday, the Celtics didn’t just punt home-court advantage against the Heat in round two. They also put themselves in serious jeopardy with the Lakers, who had an identical 55-25 record. In losing to the Wiz, the C’s are now 55-26. If they can beat the Spurs on Tuesday night, the Lakers will be in excellent position to secure home-court advantage for a potential Celtics matchup in the Finals. We all know how that turned out last year.
3. Monday’s game was encouraging for Jeff Green, who saw a greater role with the Big Four benched and dropped 20 points, 15 rebounds, four assists and two steals for by far his best performance as a Celtic. But it wasn’t so nice for Nenad Krstic, who surprisingly only played 16 minutes and didn’t do much on either end of the floor. It’s beginning to look as though Krstic’s role in the postseason rotation will be minimal. He’ll play, obviously, but he may end up as a third fiddle behind the two O’Neals at center.
4. Another thing the Celtics punted on Monday night? Rajon Rondo‘s glimmer of hope to win the NBA assist crown this season. Monday morning, the race stood at 11.4 dimes per game for Phoenix’s Steve Nash, and 11.2 for Rondo; Rondo sat out Monday night, and Nash dropped 16 assists in a crazy overtime win over Minnesota. That’s not helping matters much for the Celtics’ youngster. This race is pretty much over — unless Rondo dishes out 30-something in Wednesday’s finale.
5. More heartbreak, statistically speaking — Ray Allen has always said that one of his career goals is to join the “50-40-90 Club,” having a season with shooting percentages of 50 percent from the field, 40 percent from 3, and 90 percent from the free-throw line. Nash, Bird, Dirk Nowitzki, Reggie Miller and Mark Price are currently the only members. Allen looked like he had a good shot this season, but he’s now coming up just short from the field (49.1 percent) and the line (88.1). Maybe next year.
6. Paul Pierce will never equal Bill Russell‘s 11 championship rings, but he did pass the Celtic legend last week in another category — games played. Sunday’s loss to the Heat was Pierce’s 964th in Celtic green, putting him one ahead of Russell in fourth place on the C’s all-time list. John Havlicek is the all-time leader with 1,270 games in green, with Robert Parish second at 1,106. Kevin McHale is at 971 in third, sure to be overtaken by Pierce early next season.
7. Shaquille O’Neal has only played five minutes and 29 seconds in the last two months, but expect him to be back on the floor this weekend when the Celtics take on the Knicks in the first round of the playoffs. Because the C’s are home for Wednesday’s finale and remain home to open the postseason, they’ll remain in the Boston area all week and they’ll have multiple practice dates on the schedule. Plenty of time to work the big fella back into the mix before this weekend. Shaq has been laying low for most of this season, but he won’t miss the playoffs. This is the part he lives for.
