My Early Early Take on the Celtics

The Celts haven’t been off to ideal start so far at 0-2.  But it’s not time to jump off the Tobin Bridge just yet and prepare for the Lottery.  They have played two of the better teams in the NBA in those two games and both will be fighting for a spot in the Eastern Conference Championship this year.  Both teams have had something major to prove.  The Heat have lost 8 of the last 9 regular season games to the Celtics and just got embarrassed in the NBA Finals, while the Knicks got swept out of the playoffs last year by these Celtics.  Oh, and both games for the Celtics have been on the road.

One of the biggest reasons the Celtics have lost these two games is because no one out there right now can create their own shot other than Rajon Rondo.  Paul Pierce is banged up, but when healthy the Celtics will be just fine.  Pierce is still a dynamic scorer who can create for others and has a deadly midrange game as well as a recently added 3 point game (see Rondo detractors, it’s never too late to develop a 3 point shot).  He may not be as fast as he used to but he is still physical enough to guard some of the best swingmen in the game.

They may not have the size that they have had in the past, but do the Heat, Knicks, and Bulls have that size?  Absolutely not more than the Celtics.  The Celtics upgraded their bench to try and improve on their quickness and offense.  Keyon Dooling had 18 points last night, Brandon Bass has had double figures in both nights, and Marquis Daniels looks healthier than ever.  Avery Bradley and Chris Wilcox add to what the Celtics pride themselves on, their defense.  I haven’t even mentioned the three point threat of Mickael Pietrus yet.  With this cramped schedule, look for rookies JaJuan Johnson and E’Twaun Moore to contribute as well.

Let’s talk about Rajon Rondo real quick.  He has certainly come out with a major chip on his shoulder and is averaging 26.5 points, 12.5 assists, 6.5 rebounds and 2.5 steals per game.  He is even shooting 70 percent from the charity stripe and is getting there at a frequent rate due to his reckless abandon on taking the ball to the cup.  Yes, I know it is only two games, but if he kept that up, he not only would be by far the best point guard, he would be the MVP.  He seemed to have silenced the critics (some even on this blog) so far.

We are two games in to the year so far and the Celtics have lost two games they should have lost without their best offensive player in Pierce, no need to worry.  However, if the bandwagon fans are already jumping off, please don’t let the door hit you on the way out.

Posted in: Matt,NBA