Remember, the Path to 2008 Wasn't as Smooth as Some Would Like to Remember...

[Jon]

I can't believe were 2-0 up after those performances.

I don't think tonight was as bad as last game.  We were up by 11 and then Melo and Douglas (or someone else) hit two contested shots with time winding down to cut the score down.  We were doing the things that should've gotten us to blowout territory where the Knicks probably would've rolled over and given up. 

Melo just played unreal.  Pierce guarded him generally well. 

[birdwatcher]

We struggled on the road in 2008.  However, that Hawks playoff series was nothing like this one.

In case anybody forgot:

Game 1:  104-81
Game 2:  96-77

Exactly.

Good points..I see your point of view.

But looking around the league? I'll take these two.

LA is down 1-0 to NOH - with a loss at home.

Spurs are down 1-0 at home to TA and MEM.

OKC-DEN was a close game, as well as CHI-Indy, POR-DAL.

ORL is stuggling vs ATL.

I love our position right now - no matter how we got it.

TP--and cheers to another glass half full...

[GreenEnvy]

We struggled on the road in 2008.  However, that Hawks playoff series was nothing like this one.

In case anybody forgot:

Game 1:  104-81
Game 2:  96-77

I'm well aware of those games, but there is no doubt these Knicks are a significantly better team than those Hawks.

I'm not trying to be flip, but are they really?  A Knicks team without Amare and Chauncey is significantly better than that Hawks team?  I don't believe that for a minute.

In Game 1, they had both players available for over 47 minutes. Despite a poor offensive performance won anyway with a clutch shot.

In Game 2, Melo was more unguardable than LeBron because of his outside shooting. Despite another poor offensive performance, we won again with another clutch shot.

We stole both games this week, but Cleveland was a much better defensive team. We are struggling now on the offensive end for no reason but our own. I do not credit NYK for much of our offensive struggles.

Remember, Cleveland was the defending Eastern Conference champs.

[Neurotic Guy]

I can't believe were 2-0 up after those performances.

I don't think tonight was as bad as last game.  We were up by 11 and then Melo and Douglas (or someone else) hit two contested shots with time winding down to cut the score down.  We were doing the things that should've gotten us to blowout territory where the Knicks probably would've rolled over and given up. 

Melo just played unreal.  Pierce guarded him generally well. 

I agree.  These are games we lost during the regular season -- against even worse opponents. 

Teams are geared up to steal one of the first 2 games on the road.  Playoff HCA is great, but the pressure is high to 'hold serve'.    A number of the NBA best have not held serve this year.  But, the C's have.  If I'm not mistaken -- that's good.

[barefacedmonk]

We struggled on the road in 2008.  However, that Hawks playoff series was nothing like this one.

In case anybody forgot:

Game 1:  104-81
Game 2:  96-77

Exactly.

Good points..I see your point of view.

But looking around the league? I'll take these two.

LA is down 1-0 to NOH - with a loss at home.

Spurs are down 1-0 at home to TA and MEM.

OKC-DEN was a close game, as well as CHI-Indy, POR-DAL.

ORL is stuggling vs ATL.

I love our position right now - no matter how we got it.

I personally don't care what is happening around the league. No other team can win us banner 18 but the Celtics.

Lakers went on a tear after the ASG...why weren't such comparisons made then? Instead we got excuses about how the team was coasting. Go back and look at all the comments...half the people here were trying to remind us that we will see a different team in the playoffs. So far, we haven't seen a very different team...we had similar close wins against the Knicks in the regular season too...again, not very different from these two playoff wins.

[ejk3489]

We struggled on the road in 2008.  However, that Hawks playoff series was nothing like this one.

In case anybody forgot:

Game 1:  104-81
Game 2:  96-77

Exactly.

Good points..I see your point of view.

But looking around the league? I'll take these two.

LA is down 1-0 to NOH - with a loss at home.

Spurs are down 1-0 at home to TA and MEM.

OKC-DEN was a close game, as well as CHI-Indy, POR-DAL.

ORL is stuggling vs ATL.

I love our position right now - no matter how we got it.

I personally don't care what is happening around the league. No other team can win us banner 18 but the Celtics.

Lakers went on a tear after the ASG...why weren't such comparisons made then? Instead we got excuses about how the team was coasting. Go back and look at all the comments...half the people here were trying to remind us that we will see a different team in the playoffs. So far, we haven't seen a very different team...we had similar close wins against the Knicks in the regular season too...again, not very different from these two playoff wins.

True, the Celtics haven't exactly inspired confidence going foward. But a win is a win, and I think that they will continute to grow going foward. JO, Green, and DWest are still getting used to playing Celtics playoff basketball, so hopefully they (Green/DWest) will lift the bench up going foward. Big Baby should also play better.

Lets just hope we finish off the Knicks in 4-5 games so we can rest up for Miami.

(Rebounding needs to be better though...tonight was atrocious)

[barefacedmonk]

We struggled on the road in 2008.  However, that Hawks playoff series was nothing like this one.

In case anybody forgot:

Game 1:  104-81
Game 2:  96-77

Exactly.

Good points..I see your point of view.

But looking around the league? I'll take these two.

LA is down 1-0 to NOH - with a loss at home.

Spurs are down 1-0 at home to TA and MEM.

OKC-DEN was a close game, as well as CHI-Indy, POR-DAL.

ORL is stuggling vs ATL.

I love our position right now - no matter how we got it.

I personally don't care what is happening around the league. No other team can win us banner 18 but the Celtics.

Lakers went on a tear after the ASG...why weren't such comparisons made then? Instead we got excuses about how the team was coasting. Go back and look at all the comments...half the people here were trying to remind us that we will see a different team in the playoffs. So far, we haven't seen a very different team...we had similar close wins against the Knicks in the regular season too...again, not very different from these two playoff wins.

True, the Celtics haven't exactly inspired confidence going foward. But a win is a win, and I think that they will continute to grow going foward. JO, Green, and DWest are still getting used to playing Celtics playoff basketball, so hopefully they (Green/DWest) will lift the bench up going foward. Big Baby should also play better.

Lets just hope we finish off the Knicks in 4-5 games so we can rest up for Miami.

I'm glad we're up 2-0...but the team's performance hasn't been "flip the switch" type that half the people here wanted us to believe in....we haven't looked much different from where we were at a couple of weeks ago.

[greenpride32]

But we had HCA in 2008 for each round; big difference between this year and 2008.  In 2008 we were the top team start to finish, end to end.  This year right now we're just in a pack of about 6 true contenders and are playing the worst or near the bottom of all of them.

[Roy H.]

I'm glad we're up 2-0...but the team's performance hasn't been the "flip the switch" type that half the people here wanted us to believe in....we haven't looked much different from where we were at a couple of weeks ago.

Yeah, I thought it was pretty clear against Miami last year that we came out with a different focus, and the team gained momentum from there.  (Game 1: 85-76; Game 2: 106-77).  We're not playing even close to that level right now, but hopefully they can get it together.  This team is certainly talented enough, although there's some legitimate cause for concern.

[ejk3489]

We struggled on the road in 2008.  However, that Hawks playoff series was nothing like this one.

In case anybody forgot:

Game 1:  104-81
Game 2:  96-77

Exactly.

Good points..I see your point of view.

But looking around the league? I'll take these two.

LA is down 1-0 to NOH - with a loss at home.

Spurs are down 1-0 at home to TA and MEM.

OKC-DEN was a close game, as well as CHI-Indy, POR-DAL.

ORL is stuggling vs ATL.

I love our position right now - no matter how we got it.

I personally don't care what is happening around the league. No other team can win us banner 18 but the Celtics.

Lakers went on a tear after the ASG...why weren't such comparisons made then? Instead we got excuses about how the team was coasting. Go back and look at all the comments...half the people here were trying to remind us that we will see a different team in the playoffs. So far, we haven't seen a very different team...we had similar close wins against the Knicks in the regular season too...again, not very different from these two playoff wins.

True, the Celtics haven't exactly inspired confidence going foward. But a win is a win, and I think that they will continute to grow going foward. JO, Green, and DWest are still getting used to playing Celtics playoff basketball, so hopefully they (Green/DWest) will lift the bench up going foward. Big Baby should also play better.

Lets just hope we finish off the Knicks in 4-5 games so we can rest up for Miami.

I'm glad we're up 2-0...but the team's performance hasn't been "flip the switch" type that half the people here wanted us to believe in....we haven't looked much different from where we were at a couple of weeks ago.

Yeah, I definitely agree with that. But for much of the playoffs last year the "switch" was very much on and off. Playing great on the road one game than getting blown out at home the next. Besides that 6 game win streak during the playoffs (3 against Cavs and 3 against ORL) we were very much up and down. A lot of the games were pretty close too.

IDK, I'm not saying it's going to be the same as last year, but this team has shown it can win when it matters most.

Yeah, I thought it was pretty clear against Miami last year that we came out with a different focus, and the team gained momentum from there.  (Game 1: 85-76; Game 2: 106-77).  We're not playing even close to that level right now, but hopefully they can get it together.  This team is certainly talented enough, although there's some legitimate cause for concern.

IDK if if was that obvious last year...we were down 14 in the 3rd quarter during that 1st game with Miami. Much like the 1st game this year.

[Drucci]

We struggled last year too. Down 14 in game 1 against Miami, we blew them out in game 2 but struggled in game 3 (Pierce's gamewinner), lost game 4 and won game 5. The great thing in the playoffs is that you can struggle for a game and then coming out absolutely dominating the next game (or vice versa). So yeah, it's not encouraging but it doesn't mean we will struggle in every game and the point is we're up 2-0 instead of being 1-1 (or even 0-2).

[GreenEnvy]

I'm glad we're up 2-0...but the team's performance hasn't been the "flip the switch" type that half the people here wanted us to believe in....we haven't looked much different from where we were at a couple of weeks ago.

Yeah, I thought it was pretty clear against Miami last year that we came out with a different focus, and the team gained momentum from there.  (Game 1: 85-76; Game 2: 106-77).  We're not playing even close to that level right now, but hopefully they can get it together.  This team is certainly talented enough, although there's some legitimate cause for concern.

Ugh Roy, but c'mon, the Knicks with JUST Carmelo is comparable to last year's Heat.

Yeah, we won by 9, in the first game, but we are not a +29 team without KG. Chalk it up to whatever, but it took us a Pierce buzzer-beater to beat them in Game 3.

Although last year was more encouraging, how confident were we after losing the way we did against Cleveland (29-point loss at home) in Game 3.

For every impressive game you can point to in 2008 or 2010, I can point to an embarrassing one.

2008 was a different team than this year's. So was 2010. So is the competition. We are having a tough time with NYK, but I don't see what comparing yesteryear does.

Keep racking up W's however possible and I will keep celebrating after. I just want to be the first (and only) team to 16 wins. Whether we are a +1 or +10, I don't care.

[barefacedmonk]

team has shown it can win when it matters most.

Game 7 of the championship round qualifies as "when it matter most", right? Why didn't they win that one? Yea, we were without our starting center...but we don't have our starting center this year as well...and nobody knows if he'll be even back. And please don't give me the free throws disparity excuse...that's why HCA is so important. We didn't have it last year..and we don't have it this year as well...but we had it in 2008 and look up the free throws disparity in game 6. We got the better end in that series.

KG is healthy compared to last year..but the improvement in his health has been negated by the acquisition of new players that, like you said, are still learning to play with our team.

That flip the switch mentality came back to bite them in the butt last year...and if they don't raise the level of their play by several notches, then this season is going to end up in disappointment too.

[Garnett Crushes Gasoft]

To people concerned that we arent the same, where was this supposed playoff dominance when we got blown out by cleaveland by a record number?

[ChainSmokingLikeDino]

We struggled last year too. Down 14 in game 1 against Miami, we blew them out in game 2 but struggled in game 3 (Pierce's gamewinner), lost game 4 and won game 5. The great thing in the playoffs is that you can struggle for a game and then coming out absolutely dominating the next game (or vice versa). So yeah, it's not encouraging but it doesn't mean we will struggle in every game and the point is we're up 2-0 instead of being 1-1 (or even 0-2).

TP and reposting this from elsewhere because it needs to be restated:

 We didn't steam roll teams then and so far we are not doing it now. But, gosh, do people remember the Atlanta series, or more importantly, as I said earlier, the D Wade game in the Miami series last year? This was that game. We lost it then, we won it now. The idea that this team deserves to blow out the opposition every game is preposterous. There is a sense of entitlement some people have that doesn't account for human fault and team lapses and it is actually somewhat sickening. It presupposes people as robots that perform to their expectations and when they don't it is pure venom. It is insulting to read and saddening to witness. Gosh, this rant turned but I do believe it and I find it somewhat disconcerting to say the least. That fans are entitled to excellence at every moment and don't have any sense or reality of the human beings playing the game and overlook that that it is that which makes this game beautiful, that it is people playing and not a videogame simulation. End rant.