You know, but that's partly true... let me give you some examples:
LeBron played 39 minutes tonight in a blowout.
Lakers were handling Denver quite easily, and they blew a comfortable 4th quarter lead with the starters on the floor, and they ended up playing:
Kobe 37 minutes
Pau Gasol 45 minutes
Odom 39 minutes
Orlando had a comfortable 4th quarter lead, and they kept it that way throughout the whole quarter, and yet:
Dwight played 44 minutes.
Hedo played 38 minutes.
Lewis played 42 minutes.
I know these are the playoffs, and you're not going to gamble with 10-14 leads in the 4th. But I think there was room to give some bench players some run in the 4th for Orlando and the Lakers, but they kept their main guys in anyways to make sure they secured the win.
Jazz pretty much the same, they've been playing Deron Williams a ton even though they've been controlling the Rockets, especially in the first game. Huge 4th quarter lead, and Deron played it completely... ended up playing 44 minutes.
I agree with you to a point (and I think we're similar ground)
...... but Atlanta are just so bad they're in a completely different category from everyone else. Not a single one of those teams is as bad as Atlanta. There was never any doubt about the win and there very likely won't be in any of the four games.
The Laker game, they were up in the second quarter, lost their lead before the half, had a 6-0 run in the final two minutes to finish up 58-56 or something like that. Atlanta were never that threat. Atlanta never had the firepower of a Carmelo Anthony, Allen Iverson, etc.
Orlando had a great first quarter then got outplayed for the next 28 minutes as Toronto outscored them by double digits during that period, I think they pulled a 23 point lead back to 5 at one point early in the fourth (around the 8 minute mark).
I only saw the end of the Cavs game so I can't say about that. But I don't think they can ever rest LeBron, I'd be surprised if he doesn't play 44-48 minutes most nights the rest of the way.
Atlanta are garbage. It's not just that they're bad, they matchup up horribly with the Celtics. It's the worst matchup they could have had. And it's the best matchup that the Celtics could have. It's just cruelty, that's how one-sided this series is. No other series is like that.
Utah and Houston come close but Houston make Utah earn everything. Both those games have been close the whole way despite Utah being in control. Atlanta just offer it up on a plate. It's a slaughter.
Can anyone think of a recent playoff series that was more lobsided than this one? I'm struggling to. Although, that probably has a lot to do with the fact you don't remember these types of series clearly if at all.